Fire temporarily closes Groundswell cafe

ST. PAUL >> HAMLINE-MIDWAY

No one was injured; apartment tenants displaced

A fire at Groundswell in St. Paul displaced five people living in apartments above the cafe and led to the temporary closure of the business at Thomas and Hamline avenues, according to the fire department. COURTESY OF THE ST. PAUL FIRE DEPARTMENT

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By Mara H. Gottfried

mgottfried@pioneerpress.com

The people who run a St. Paul cafe say they had “a surreal and pretty awful night watching our beloved business on fire.”

Groundswell is on the first floor of a two-story building at Thomas and Hamline avenues in the Hamline-Midway area with apartments above.

The St. Paul Fire Department was dispatched about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday for a report of an apartment fire. A 911 caller said the building was full of smoke and all the occupants had escaped, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Smith.

The fire most likely started in the basement; there is a room that houses the HVAC system and storage for the business, Smith said. The cause is undetermined.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and safely removed a cat from an apartment. Five adults were displaced and are staying with family and friends, Smith said.

“Everyone is safe, and that is what matters most,” said an early Thursday post on Groundswell’s Facebook and Instagram pages. “Really sad to say we won’t be able to serve you your latte and scone tomorrow. We will keep you posted as we learn more.”

Groundswell has had its share of successes and calamities over the years, and the business credits neighbors and friends for their support.

Groundswell got its start in December 2009, with “the resurrection project of the coffeeshop at 1342 Thomas Ave.,” the business’ website says. “… We scraped together as much money as we could, asked a bunch of our friends to volunteer their time at the espresso machine, and opened Groundswell Coffee.”

The coffeeshop had to close for nearly three months in 2011 when a ceiling collapsed.

In December 2012, they found out the neighboring business was closing and decided to expand — offering in-house bakery and cafe food, along with beer and wine. A friend opened a shop inside featuring arts and crafts made by local artists.

By 2015, Groundswell’s baker and general manager Megan Greulich competed on the Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge.”

“The national exposure helped expand our bakery, and Megan’s ugly Christmas sweater cookies became a fixture of our holiday season,” Groundswell says on its website.

In 2017, a car crashed through the front of the business. No one was hurt. “And, true to the spirit of the neighborhood, our neighbors showed up in waves, checking in on us and offering to help us clean up,” the website said.