George's Ballroom for sale

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- While it's showing its age, it's an entertainment icon that brought some of the finest bands of the day to New Ulm, and you can buy it for only $225,000.

It's George's Ballroom, one of the grandest undertakings of its time. For more than 40 years, the ballroom at the corner of Center and German streets attracted some of the biggest "big" and polka bands in the country.

When it opened in October 1947, the 32,000-square-foot, face-brick structure with its glass brick windows and Artstone trim, a 70-by-86 ballroom, an eight-lane Brunswick bowling alley and what was described as "the longest bar in the Northwest," was the talk of the entire Midwest.

Now, faced with forfeiting the ballroom to the state at the end of May, Lois Neuwirth Hughes, administratrix of George and Ella Neuwirth's estate, has listed the property with Koeckeritz Realty in New Ulm.

At the end of April, the delinquent tax bill stood at $77,035.11. It's increasing at the rate of $535 a month so by the end of May, the delinquent tax, which includes a special Streetscape and parking meter assessments, will total $77,570.34, Brown County Assistant Auditor-Treasurer Jean Prochniak said.

"It will be forfeited to the state at the end of May, and the property will automatically come back to the county at which time the property could be sold if there is no other use for it," Prochniak explained.

"If a buyer comes forward in the meantime, it doesn't stop the process because the owner can't sell the property until the delinquent taxes are cleared up," Prochniak said. "The delinquent tax bill is the responsibility of the seller."

Hughes, who returned to New Ulm from California recently to live temporarily in an apartment above the ballroom, declined The Journal's request to view the building's interior.

The 165-by-175 building was 20 months in construction, beginning in March 1946, and was described as "ultra modern" with its cold cathode lighting and sign displays.

"I could see that New Ulm was becoming the recreational center for a large area," George Neuwirth was quoted as saying at the time. "I wanted to be able to give people something better than they could get anywhere else."

The bowling alley opened several months before the ballroom was completed.

On Oct. 14, 1947, the day before the ballroom's grand opening The Journal increased its pages to accommodate the stories, the ballroom's advertising and the congratulatory ads from other businesses in the community.

Neuwirth had brought in a young artist from Wahpeton, N.D., Otto S. Nielsen, to do the decorative color scheme and the picturesque murals that adorned the ballroom's interior. Nielsen was still working on the murals when Jimmy Barnett's 12-piece orchestra played for the grand opening dance Oct. 15, 1947, at George's Greater Amusement Center.

George and Ella Neuwirth started it all with a beer garden that they opened on South Minnesota Street in 1933 at the end of Prohibition. They then bought property at 506 Center Street where they had a restaurant, billiards parlor, four-lane bowling alley, a dance area and bar. These business ventures were eclipsed by the mega-amusement center at 405 Center Street.