Fire marshal investigates Matter’s blaze

Sarah Strandberg - News Editor

The state fire marshal’s office will be investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed the historic Matter’s Ballroom north of Decorah Sunday. Rock and roll legends such as Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis performed at Matter’s, which was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

The Decorah Fire Department was called at about 6:30 a.m. When they arrived, the intense heat prevented firefighters from attacking the fire from inside the building. Their efforts also were hampered by the bitterly cold weather.

The department was assisted by firefighters from Calmar, Ossian, Frankville and Mabel, Minn. No injuries were reported. Read more in Tuesday’s Decorah Public Opinion.

Decorah landmark destroyed - Rock 'n' roll history burns with ballroom

By JESSICA MILLER - Courier Staff Writer

DECORAH - Hours after a dance ended, the home of Iowa's first rock music shows was reduced to a pile of ashes.

Matter's Ballroom on Sunday was destroyed by fire."It was just totally annihilated. It was gone," said Jo Olson, who ran the ballroom with her brother.

Decorah firefighters arrived on the scene at 6:22 a.m. Owner Dan Telsrow arrived 40 minutes later and watched as the fire burned to the ground. Firefighters first fought the blaze from the inside, but retreated when flames grew over their heads and the situation became too dangerous. They remained on the scene until 5 p.m.

The cause is not known. An investigator from the State Fire Marshal's Office was to be on the scene this afternoon.

The ballroom suffered a fire in 2000. That blaze was caused by a heat lamp, but firefighters were able to save the building. Telsrow rebuilt.

Most recently the ballroom was a place for weddings, banquets and the fireman's ball. The wood floor, however, was also graced with big-name acts, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, The Four Seasons, Tony Orlando and the Everly Brothers. More than 80 national recording artists performed in Decorah. In 1997 the ballroom was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.

Though memorabilia had been removed, signatures and graffiti written by band members covered the dressing room walls.

John Matter built what later became the ballroom in 1914 when he needed a warehouse for his orchard. Two years later, Matter modified the building into a place for community dances.

Though early rock was what the ballroom was known for, other groups -- including Big Band, Lawrence Welk and country and western acts -- also made appearances there before the 1950s.

John Matter's grandson, John, began working there as a teen-ager. He heard the sirens early Sunday and stood by while the ballroom burned.

"I spent 50 years living and working there. It seemed appropriate to stand there until the end," Matter said.

The Matter family sold the ballroom to Telsrow in 1999. Telsrow said he is not sure whether he can rebuild. The ballroom was underinsured, he said, because of high insurance rates after the 2000 fire. "I thought it would never happen again. I only had insurance on the building," Telsrow said.

In addition to losing the building's equipment he also lost $10,000 of antiques stored in the building. "I lost a lot of money," Telsrow said.

And Decorah lost a lot of history. Matter said it may seem silly, but he feels like a family member is gone. "You realize it's just a structure," Matter said "(But) it's almost like a death in the family. The ballroom had its own character. ... You can't build that today."

Hi Myron,

I'm sure you've heard by now that Matter's Ballroom burned to the ground on Sunday. I was doing some research on it since I'm planning to write a column about it for the USABDA newsletter and thought you might be interested in a couple of web sites. Matter's actually has their own web site: www.nbea.com/matter's This is where I got some of the information for my earlier column on Matter's. I also looked at the Decorah Newspapers web site (www.decorahnewspapers.com). They don't have much information (the full article will be in tomorrow's paper), but they do have some good photos of the fire (hard to see almost 90 years of dance history going up in flames, though).

I can't begin to tell you what a tremendous loss this is, not only for myself personally, but for so many people. Matter's was an institution in northeast Iowa and played a role in so many people's lives for so many years. It's hard to believe it's gone. But, we all still have our memories . . . .

Dance On,

Lori Hager

Ballroom owner tries to put pieces together

By DANE STICKNEY and JESSICA MILLER - Courier Staff Writers

DECORAH - One word describes Dan Telsrow's life since Sunday, when his business -- Matter's Ballroom -- went up in flames.

"Hell," he said. Telsrow has spent three days meeting with a State Fire Marshal investigator and insurance officials, trying to sort out what happened. The landmark venue had attracted performers including Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers.

The Fire Marshal's Office and the Decorah Fire Department are continuing their investigation today but likely won't find a cause soon. In time, they may be able to piece together what happened, Telsrow said.

Right now, however, nothing adds up. Telsrow has $250,000 in insurance, but rebuilding would cost close to $750,000. If he were to rebuild, the business would probably be in his sister's name because Telsrow said after two fires in three years he could have trouble getting insurance. But Telsrow and his sister, Jo Olson, aren't sure they even want to rebuild.

"Even if they do rebuild, it won't be the same, you know," said James Ronan, a Decorah resident and member of the Iowa Rock 'N' Roll Music Association. With Ronan's help, Matter's Ballroom was the first inductee into the association's hall of fame.

"A lot of history was lost there. Just to be there where all the artists have stood. ... " Ronan said. "It was one of the great ballrooms in the country and one of the oldest, too."

Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps performed Iowa's first rock show there in 1957. Buddy Holly, one of the biggest names to cross the oak floor, took the stage in 1958, singing "That'll be the Day" and "Peggy Sue."

"It's where a lot of big bands got their start," Ronan said.

Although most of the memorabilia, such as signed photographs from the early days of rock, had long been removed, the dressing room was covered in graffiti from many recording artists.

The loss of the ballroom signals to Ronan that Iowans should support the last ballrooms in the state. "Tell people to get out there," Ronan said. "People don't realize they have them until they are gone."

And as Telsrow knows, it can be lost in a hurry. Despite seeing his business, $10,000 of antiques and a large portion of Decorah's history disappear in a cloud of black ash and orange flame, Telsrow thinks he's handling the personal tragedy well.

"My girlfriend doesn't understand why I'm so calm," he said. "But you've got to just live your days as they go."

Sunday blaze destroys Matter's Ballroom

Sarah Strandberg - News Editor

The Decorah Fire Department was assisted by four area departments in fighting a Sunday morning blaze at Matter's Ballroom north of Decorah. The state fire marshal's office will be investigating the cause of the fire, which destroyed the historic stucture.

"It’s surreal," John Matter said as aggressive flames rapidly consumed the building, despite the firefighters’ determined efforts in the bitter cold.

The ballroom was constructed in 1914 for packing and crating the apples and potatoes grown on Matter’s grandparents’ farm and stored in the cellar below it.

John Alvin and Emma Matter had the building modified in 1916 and the first community dance was held. The parking lot was reportedly filled with horses and buggies for the inaugural event .

Soon there were dances on a regular basis, with bands such as Hal Leonard, Les Hartman and Lawrence Welk and his orchestra performing.

Matter’s parents, Leonard and Carol, took over the ballroom shortly after World War II and in 1957 introduced Northeast Iowa to rock-n-roll when they booked Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps.

Despite being considered "devil’s music" rock and rollers continued to perform at Matter’s, with more than 80 national recording artists performing between 1957 and 1967.

John and his wife Suzanne took over the business in 1971. The Ballroom was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In recent years it has hosted 105 to 110 events a year.

Dan Telsrow bought the ballroom four years ago.

Difficult’

As his thoughts turned to the many memories he has of the ballroom, Matter said it was difficult to describe his feelings.

"It’s the history as much as anything," he said.

"I spent 50 years of my life here … growing up and working here," he said.

In the past few years, especially with the ballroom’s induction into the hall of fame, he said he’s had a better appreciation for the ballroom’s rich history.

"It just tears your heart out to see it," he said as smoke billowed out of the ballroom.

Personal items

Matter’s had been rented for a college fraternity party Saturday night, and Telsrow said he checked on the ballroom at about 2 a.m. Employees later closed it down.

Telsrow said restaurant equipment, antiques and some of his personal possessions were lost in the fire.

The business has been up for sale since Telsrow’s fiancee lives in Dubuque and he’s been planning to move. However, he said he was also considering relocating somewhere between Decorah and Dubuque and continuing to run Matter’s.

He said bookings had been picking up, since the recent closing of the Cliff House.

"The next two months were full," he said.

December. 12, 2000, a fire caused extensive smoke and water damage to Matter’s. It was blamed on a heat lamp used to keep the pipes from freezing.

Telsrow and friends did much of the cleanup work themselves.

"We brought it back," he said.

The business owner said he didn’t know the dollar amount of his loss Sunday.

"Something like this, you can’t put a number on …that’s the sad part," he said.

No injuries

There were no reports of injuries or frostbite, according to Decorah Fire Chief Mike Ashbacher.

On their arrival, firefighers attempted to attack the fire from inside, but the intense heat forced them out of the building.

Firefighters were hampered by the cold conditions and having to haul water to the scene, he said. All the water from the Locust Road water tower was eventually used, and water had to be brought in from downtown Decorah.

Providing additional assistance at the scene were the Tri County Chapter of the Red Cross, Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital ambulance, Decorah Police Department, Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, state fire marshal’s office, Alliant Energy, Hovey L.P., Bruening Rock Products, Winneshiek County Road Department, Decorah Street Department and the Decorah Water Department.

A Decorah school bus was used to provide an area for firefighters to get out of the elements.

Decorah firefighters were called to the blaze at about 6:30 a.m. Calmar, Mabel, Ossian and Frankville firefighters quickly provided assistance. The cause will be investigated by the state fire marshal’s office this week.

Posted By Adam Sodersten

One North Iowa family took the news of the destruction of a Decorah ballroom harder than most. Last Sunday, fire raced through Matter’s Ballroom and burned the 86 year old dance hall to the ground.

The building was built in 1914 by apple orchard farmer John Matter. He built the building to store his apple crop. Often on cold Iowa winter nights, Matter and friends would play cards in the warehouse above the apple storage area. Two years latter he decided his warehouse could be used for more than just apple storage.

"He got the bright idea, he was a very good businessman, he knew that people liked to dance and he came across some fine oak lumber and he had a dance floor installed," says John Matter’s granddaughter Sharon O’Neill.

Growing up, O'Neill worked many odd jobs at the ballroom. She tells KIMT NewsChannel Three having a dance hall like Matters in Decorah was great for the community.

"It was the kind of place where little kids could go with their parents to a dance. Many of the things were family oriented," says O’Neill.

The ballroom stayed in the family for three generations before it was sold in 1999. However, seeing fire destroy the building was still hard for the family that grew up running the dance hall.

"I stood there and cried. I felt as if a close friend had died. Even though it was just a building, it was really a building of golden memories," stated O’Neill.

Through out the past 86 years, Matters Ballroom saw a number of popular entertainers. It even saw Buddy Holly and the Crickets only months before their final concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.

"That's what we have now are the memories...ya know the good times. The friends and the community events," says O’Neill.

Sunday’s fire was the second in the history of the ballroom. The other happened shortly after the Matter family sold the dance hall.

from the Decorah Newspapers web site - Arpil 8, 2003

Cause of Matter's Ballroom fire may never be determined

By Sarah Strandberg

News editor

It appears the cause of the fire, which destroyed the historic Matter’s Ballroom, will never be determined.

Owner Dan Telsrow said his insurance company said it would be too expensive to hire an investigator and sort through debris.

"They said it would cost too much, so the heck with it," he said.

So far, Telsrow said he hasn’t been "paid a dime" for his loss and the insurance company hasn’t been returning his calls. However, he has learned his insurance will pay for some of the cost of the clean up, and he’s currently obtaining bids for the work.

Telsrow has decided he will not rebuild on the site. He had been considering constructing a community center.

"I’ve talked to different people … with the way the economy is right now and the attitude of some people around town, it wouldn’t be a good idea," he said.

"If I rebuilt, it wouldn’t be Matter’s and they wouldn’t come out if it’s not Matter’s."

The commercial property is currently for sale.

The first inductee into the Iowa Rock’n’Roll Music Association’s Hall Of Fame, Matter’s burned to the ground Sunday, March 9.

Rock ’n’ roll legends such as Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis performed at the ballroom, which in recent years has been primarily used for wedding receptions and banquets.

Matter’s had been rented for a college fraternity party the night before it burned to the ground. Telsrow checked on the business around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and said everything appeared normal. Employees later closed the ballroom and the fire was reported to the Decorah Fire Department by a passerby just after 6 a.m.

Intense heat prevented fire fighters from battling the blaze from inside the building. The fire rapidly spread from the east end of the structure to involve the entire building.

The state fire marshal’s office investigated, but has not given its final report to the Decorah Fire Department.

December 21, 2000, a fire caused extensive smoke and water damage to Matter’s. It was blamed on a heat lamp used to keep the pipes from freezing. Telsrow and friends did much of the cleanup work themselves.

After that fire, the owner was unable to afford the premiums to fully insure the building. It was insured for $250,000 although it was valued at $750,000 when Telsrow bought it four years ago. Contents were not covered and Telsrow said he lost personal items and antiques stored in the ballroom valued at $10,000.