The Gnome on Selby Avenue is no more.

Owner Brian Ingram announced the closure on social media after the restaurant was closed most of the week for roof repairs.

Ingram has also been open about repeated break-ins at this property and others in St. Paul. The latest was on Sunday, when interior doors of the restaurant were forced and pried open and $1,300 was stolen, all while a cleaning crew was inside. Damage was estimated at more than $15,000.

Still, Ingram said in his post on Facebook that the closure was not because of the burglary.

“Please know our closing has nothing to do with the recent burglary. We have never owned this old firehouse. We leased it. This decision comes after discovering significant problems with the building that we simply cannot overcome as tenants,” he wrote. “St. Paul’s best days are ahead of her. We love this city. We are grateful for this city. We will continue to be a homegrown, family-owned and operated company based right here in St. Paul.”

Ingram’s Purpose-Driven Restaurants still operates Hope Breakfast Bar in St. Paul’s West Seventh neighborhood. His Apostle Supper Club in downtown St. Paul closed last year. There are nine other Hope Breakfast Bar restaurants across the metro.

Police arrested and charged Jason Lionel Wayne Gatrell with the burglary after he was caught trying to break into The Lexington restaurant in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Gnome opened in August of 2020 and replaced The Happy Gnome, which operated from 2006-2019 and was known for its extensive beer selection. Ingram’s crew renovated the restaurant’s interior, expanded the patio and transformed the upstairs event space, which doubled as a lodge-inspired restaurant called The Velvet Antler in colder months.

During the pandemic, Ingram and crew hosted a makeshift food pantry from The Gnome’s parking lot to help hospitality workers who were without jobs.

The Gnome break-ins aren’t the first time Ingram has complained about crime in the capital city affecting his businesses. When he closed The Apostle across from Grand Casino Arena last summer, he cited crime and overdoses on the restaurant’s patio and in its bathroom.

“We are walking away from a $4 million buildout,” Ingram told the Pioneer Press at the time. “It’s not something we’re doing lightly. It was a lifelong dream to build that style and that restaurant, but we can’t sustain it.”

Ingram said the Gnome closure marked a sad day for the staff that kept the space running since its opening in the middle of the pandemic.

“The hardest part of this is our team. We know this impacts their lives, their families, and their ability to pay their bills. Our team carried this place through COVID, packed patios, weddings, funerals, celebrations, and some really hard days. They loved our guests. They loved this neighborhood. They made The Gnome what it is. We want to thank the tens of thousands of guests who chose to spend time with us. We have had engagements, weddings, and even funerals here, and we are so grateful for our time here,” he wrote.