Well over 200 years old and having outlived wave after wave of Spring Park inhabitants, the oak tree is likely one of the Lake Minnetonka city’s oldest residents.
When the tree was just a sapling in 1880 Spring Park was first being laid out. One overlooking Spring Park Bay may have seen around 40 Native American burial grounds overlooking Lake Minnetonka. Years of tourism, construction, and foot traffic later eroded any traces of those mounds, and by 1996 all that remained was an ostensibly empty plot of land.
A century ago, the tree-filled picnic area associated with Spring Park's illustrious Hotel Del Otero's lakeside pavilion, which once stood where The Hennepin County water patrol building now sits at 4141 Shoreline Dr.
A popular myth states that Minnesota magnate James J. Hill constructed the Hotel Del Otero, the main building of which once sat where Mist Condominiums sit, in 1892. While other ventures of Hill’s around Lake Minnetonka shared investors with the hotel, it was not constructed by the man himself, according to Liz Vandam of the Westonka Historical Society. What is undeniable, however, is the mark the hotel and its gathering spaces left on Spring Park.
The pavilion was first constructed in 1898 and improved upon in 1900 before being destroyed by a fire in 1902. The structure was rebuilt in 1903 and damaged by a tornado in 1904 before again being rebuilt in 1905. Yet another fire in 1916 destroyed the building again, and again in 1925, it was rebuilt. The picnic grounds, which at one point or another held pony rings, soda stands, and a number of other attractions, meanwhile played host to countless events over the years. The pavilion was finally demolished after 1945, leaving its empty picnic grounds and a large oak tree.
Few today are as acquainted with the oak tree as Dick Putnam, one of the owners of The Yacht Club, a mixed-use office and gathering space at 4165 Shoreline Dr. That's because the tree now looms over the structure's parking lot.
“It’s still there, and it’s the healthiest darn tree you’ve ever seen,” Putnam says.
In 1996 Putnam along with development partners and fellow members of the Upper Lake Yacht Club Jack Dennis and Les Renner noticed a need for their club to have a marina and congregation spot.
Jerry Rockvam, who has spent over 40 non-consecutive years as Spring Park’s Mayor and was mayor when the boating trio proposed the project, recalls the city needing to rezone the parcel of land where the Yacht Club now sits from high-density residential to commercial. He recalls countless meetings, in fact, detailing among other things, the building's design and innumerable other facets of its construction.
Attempting to capture the aesthetics of Hudson River mansions, the building’s founders worked alongside designers Dick Schwarz and Neil Weber and Haymaker Construction to create a building meant to last.
“We wanted something that people on the lake would be proud of, and I think we’ve achieved that quite well,” says Putnam.
In the early phase of the building, it quickly began honoring its namesake. In doing so, it housed weekly gatherings on Wednesday nights and Saturday and Sunday mornings when the Upper Lake Yacht Club held weekly races on the lake. About 10 years ago, the club relocated to Enchanted Island, but they maintain an office in the Yacht Club building.
Below the building on the shore of Spring Park Bay is a 32-slip marina, which belongs to the Yacht Club, meaning those working in the building can—and often do—boat to work.
“I think the tenants love it,” Putnam remarks.
Regarding the tree, many have been shocked to find it still thriving despite its roots having a bituminous burial. But Putnam said its survival was no accident. One walking about the tree’s base might notice 6-inch corrugated plastic piping. About a half a mile of it extends below the parking lot’s pavement in order to supply the tree’s root system with water and oxygen meaning the tree will likely remain for generations to come.
Putnam remains the only living original owner of The Yacht Club. Today he manages the building with Leslie and Jack Dennis, the son and daughter of his late business partner John Dennis.
Property is being co-marketed by Chris Dennis of Lakes Area Realty Excelsior and Nils Snyder of Kenwood Commercial. Chris can be reached at 612-229-9322 or Nils at 612-240-7967.