Michaels Restaurant building could soon come down

(ABC 6 NEWS) – On Monday night the Rochester City Council voted unanimously to allow the owners of the old Michaels Restaurant building the right to demolish the building and possibly bring new development to the space.

George Pappas was the kitchen manager at Michaels from 1971 until they closed at the end of 2014.

He said it was a household name known for its steaks and seafood, a busy place serving hungry customers for 63 years.

Pappas was the caretaker of the building after they closed and said it is time for the building to come down.

"We are excited about that we still have a lot of people that are wonder why we are not running the restaurant, so if the building goes away then maybe that question will go away too," Former Michaels Kitchen Manager, George Pappas said.

The action by the city council preserves the right for three years to create a Minnesota Tax Increment Financing District on the property if the building is demolished.

"It meant a lot to the visitors to the community and so many employees are still all through the community working that spent time here so yes it is rewarding and you run into them and you talk to them and they post on Facebook pictures of Michaels so the memory goes so when the building goes down the memory goes on," Pappas said.

Back in 2014, there were plans to add a hotel, retail space, and restaurants to the building area, but it is unknown if things were finalized.

ABC 6 News reached out to the current owners of the building to find out their plans for the future of the building but did not hear back.