Brothers Dan ’88 (left) and Mark ’83 Barth hold more than 200 years of local history in their combinbed Pioneer Place on Fifth and D.B. Searle’s establishments. Photo by Adam Hammer ’05
They listened to Minneapolis actor Bill Collins when he suggested they renovate while keeping the theater intact when they first purchased the building that became Pioneer Place on Fifth. They continually listen to their fans to bring entertainment that keeps them coming back for more. And they’ve listened to each other.
“We really listen to our people; our fans and musicians,” Dan said. “They literally drive this building.”
“One of the biggest blessings has been our audiences and our musicians,” Mark said. “They have really taken ownership of this place.”
Their ability to be good listeners combined with solid planning and ingenuity — and in some cases naivete and being in the right place at the right time — has led to much success.
The Barth brothers have not only created a thriving theater and music scene just up the street from the University on Fifth Avenue, they have partnered with other local theaters, arts organizations, university groups and the city to help make St. Cloud a performing arts destination. Their path-making work has led to many successful community endeavors including helping launch Summertime! By George; partnerships with the Paramount Theatre and even launching their own outdoor music festival last August called Takin’ It To The Streets – a downtown St. Cloud celebration which the Barths are hoping to extend south to St. Cloud State University in 2014.
“I realized I needed a college degree if I was going to succeed.”
Co-owner, Pioneer Place on Fifth
and DMR Productions
In it together
Mark and Dan were non-traditional college students from Howard Lake who graduated from the mass communications program.
Mark enrolled at St. Cloud State after three years of military service with the future of his family weighing on his mind. “I realized I needed a college degree if I was going to succeed,” he said. “My family really was the impetus behind me going to college.”
Mark’s dream was to have a career sitting behind a sports desk. He was actively involved in radio and television broadcasts of Husky Athletics. After graduation, he took a local job in video production and in 1988 he purchased Pioneer Teleproductions.
“In the heyday of video production, the business was on fire, and it’s still going strong,” Mark said of the company, which became DMR when Dan was invited to join.
Dan initially studied music and switched his major to public relations. He was hired after college as the youngest store manager for Target at the time and went on to help open seven stores in six years.
Mark approached Dan about coming to work for him at Pioneer Teleproductions and his answer set the stage for the working relationship they still operate under: “I won’t work for you, but I’ll work with you,” Dan said. “Neither of us work for the other.”
Theater owners
Downtown St. Cloud streets filled with crowds just outside Pioneer Place on Fifth Theatre’s front doors during Takin’ it to the Streets while Revolution 5 performs from the rooftop. Submitted photo
The Barths renamed the production company DMR. Then in 1998, they were hired to do video work for Tony’s and Red Baron pizza companies and needed a larger space. So they rented the rundown former Elks Lodge space owned by the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority for three days. They quickly started to see the potential of renovating the building to be a permanent video production space. On a whim, they decided to act on their idea to move in.
“We made an offer and they accepted on the spot. We didn’t even have funding, but we got it the next day,” Dan recalled.
During the renovation, Bill Collins, a hired actor for a project, recommended they not gut the theater for a video production area, but instead keep it as a nearly 200-seat theater.
“Being naïve, we said yes,” Dan said.
They opened their doors as a professional theater on Sept. 10, 1998 with a touring production of “The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shakspr (Abridged)” produced by the Actors Theater of Minnesota. They continued to run shows produced by outside theater groups for the first few years, noting that it was mostly for fun. DMR was still their focus.
“By the third year, we said if we’re going to do this, we need to do it right,” Dan said.
They opened their first full theater season in 2002 and sold 32 season tickets. For their 15th season this year, they sold 400 season tickets including some ticketholders who make the drive up from the Twin Cities, a remarkable feat given St. Cloud’s history of exporting fans to the Twin Cities for arts and entertainment.
In 2008 they committed to theater and started the Pioneer Place Theatre Company, which produces all of their season shows. The new artistic director, announced this year, is Jay Terry ’12.
The Pioneer Place also has been host for numerous St. Cloud State organization events including art shows for the Arts Student Union and 88.1 FM KVSC’s Granite City Radio Theatre, which enters its second season this year.
Coming up music
The Barths branched out into music and hosted their first concert when the Granite City Folk Society concert for Peter Mayer was overselling.
“That was one of my favorites,” Mark said. “It was pre-PA system days. That and Mason Jennings when he was just getting started.”
Collective Unconscious featuring Nathan Nesje, Jeff Engholm and Muggsy Lauer performs at Takin’ It to the Streets. Photo by Adam Hammer ’05
Mark recalled that those were very intimate shows, often with people sitting on the floor to be closer to the music.
“A year later, a man named Jeff Engholm walked into my life and changed things forever,” Dan said.
Engholm’s band Collective Unconscious, which also features Nathan Nesje ’90 and former St. Cloud State student Muggsy Lauer, performed the first of many “album shows” at Pioneer Place in 2002 with The Beatles “Abbey Road.” Then in 2006, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Xmas Spectacular debuted followed by Greg “Gary D.” Armstrong’s CD release concert, which featured numerous Minnesota-famous guest musicians.
All of those show concepts combined led to the creation of the Fabulous Armadillos led by Paul “Stretch” Diethelm ’03 and his band Slip Twister with Armstrong. The first Fabulous Armadillos season featured seven one-night-only themed concerts.
“The lines were out the door,” Dan recalled.
The popularity was remarkable and they have now grown to four themed shows per season with 10-night runs each, and they sell out performances every time. Celebrity guests have included Jim Peterik of Survivor, Alex Ligertwood of Santana and more.
“There is no end in sight,” Dan said.
Expanding even further
Dan has long been passionate about music as a performer and a fan. He remembers typically finding live music in St. Cloud seven days a week when he was a student.
“Then came the DJ,” he said. “Being a piano player, that upset me because musicians need a place to play.”
“And a paycheck,” Mark added.
Their musical footprint extended out of the theater to the Veranda Lounge in 2005. The lounge opened in the front space of the Pioneer Place building and features music by pianists, jazz groups and small acoustic acts.
They expanded out of the building when an unexpected opportunity came to them in 2012. D.B. Searle’s owner John Timmerman decided to sell and offered to have the Barths purchase it before it went on the market.
“Again we weren’t in buying mode,” Dan said, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity, he added. “There isn’t another bar I ever would have interest in.”
Dan said D.B. Searle’s was his favorite in college.
They purchased the building to be able to offer more food and meeting space options in collaboration with the Pioneer Place operations. They hired a chef and opened Nick’s Third Floor restaurant on, you guessed it, the third floor with Mark’s son Nick managing. Mark’s other son Andy manages the business side of D.B’s.
The Barths now hold more than 200 years of St. Cloud-unique history in their combined establishments.
“We’re big fans of local one-of-a-kinds and this is just that,” Mark said.
