Abandoned Flowers - Nature's Nursery - Coon Rapids, MN
Nature’s Nursery, formerly known as Pederson Floral, operated a greenhouse/nursery/flower shop at 3525 Coon Rapids Blvd. NW, since 1955. Didn’t find any concrete date, but it appears that Nature’s Nursery closed for good in 2013. I was living in Colorado then, so I wasn’t around to notice it.
Before that, I rarely travelled further west on Coon Rapids, Blvd. after Mississippi Blvd. I lived far enough north, that if I needed to get to the Mercy Hospital area, I’d just take 242 (Main Street) to Reisling (Round Lake), and get there that way. The area of Coon Rapids Blvd., between Mississippi and Round Lake, was some sort of void that I rarely needed to pay attention to. I could see the WCCO radio tower from all over town, I rarely needed to drive by it…
Vacationing in Minnesota, in September 2015, was the first time I started paying attention to the building. Trav had mentioned it to me, when we were hanging out. He’d asked if I’d taken any photos of if for the ever-evolving Wasted Quarter Crapids project. We drove by on our way to wherever. My picture didn’t turn out, so I didn’t include it here.
Pederson Floral ad included in a 1995 Coon Rapids Illustrated Map.
Founded in 1955, by Omar and Muriel Pederson. Run continuously by various Pederson family members through the store’s final closure in 2013. According to the Googles, this building was still identifying as Pederson Floral, in October, 2008. The name on the sign officially changed to Nature’s Nursery, at some point in 2009. A flower shop/nursery really wasn’t on my radar while I grew up in Crapids. But now that it’s been 20 years since I left, I’ll definitely notice an abandoned building and suddenly care about it!
Nature’s Nursery was still open in July 2011, for this Googlesmobile drive by. Even though it was an aging building, it still looked nice from the street. Don’t remember ever seeing the lamps lining the sidewalk, but they’re pretty cool.
My own drive by shot, from roughly same vantage point, August 10, 2016. The greenhouse area is already being beat up by vandals. Not sure why those front windows were never boarded up after the store closed. That’s just inviting trouble.
West side of Nature’s Nursery. Also from the July 2011, Googlesmobile drive by. Much of the parking lot is taken up by a fenced in area of potted plants and flowers.
Second August 2016, drive by. This coming a day later as I was going east. Now I know that part of the parking lot was used to store potted plants, the green carpet covering the pavement makes more sense. Certainly whatever was left behind when the pots were removed, had to be ready to grow. Actually think it looks pretty cool.
******
May 5, 2020.
Fire destroyed much of my parents house, this afternoon. Over the new few days, we all spent hours digging through the ashes, to see what we wanted to salvage. Amongst my dad’s things, I found this receipt:
He bought my mom flowers for their 25th anniversary, in February, 1994. The paper is a little worse for wear, but it’s also now 32 years old. I did keep it, tucked inside one of several folders of old Coon Rapids memorabilia (that only I care about). A half dozen roses for $32.50, some 32 years ago now. Adjust THAT for inflation… Never understood the concept of flowers. Money can be better spent on something lasting and useful…
Nature’s Nursery was still standing, abandoned and detonating, at the time I found the receipt. I knew it would have to be added into whatever eventual story I was going to write about the place.
Now seemed about right.
******
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Laura and I are in Minnesota, visiting family and laying groundwork for our move back in 7 months. This morning, I was driving around the greater Crapids area with my dad. Collecting photos for future unknown uses. We drove around for a couple hours, then had lunch at Mansetti’s Pizza. That was one of his favorite spots, and they have really good food. He didn’t say much that day, but he still liked to do car rides. Dementia was causing him to slip away more often than it had in the past. By the time we moved back to Minnesota, his mental state was ten times worse. He died almost 5 years ago now, and I’m glad I got to have a few more memories with him. Before he went from dad, to just “present”.
Remembering Nature’s Nursery from my 2015 and 2016 visits, where I just snapped a photo while driving by, today I wanted to stop for a closer look. I pulled into the lot, and parked in the corner. My dad saw no reason to get out of the car, so he stayed behind while I walked around the property (fairly quickly), to see what was left behind. I was a few months into writing stories for this blog at that point, and figured this place would make a great story, since it was still open enough to actually see something worthwhile.
It’s Halloween 2017, and I’m going to take a closer look at the abandoned flower shop.
Maybe pretend it’s haunted? From the outside appearance, that’s not a stretch…
Comparing the Googlesmobile drive by shots from 2011, to the state of the landscaping underneath the sign, is quite the contrast. Back when I took pictures, I didn’t notice the blocks on the ground. They didn’t stand out as anything, until I compared it to how it used to look.
Looking at how overgrown and damaged the greenhouse area is, I was surprised it had only been closed for 4 years. No idea what caused the dark spot on the pavement.
A few intact windows at the greenhouse.
Door leading into the greenhouse has a slight leak in it.
Picture taken through the puncture.
Camera aimed to the right, through a broken window.
Looking towards the back of the greenhouse.
The east end of the building.
I love those globe lights!
Broken window shot, aimed northwest.
Broken window shot of broken greenhouse roof, with all sorts of unsecured building access.
Going backwards now to look at this side of the greenhouse.
Stuff like this was skyrocketing Nature’s Nursery on my ranking of Crapids area decay. This place was awesome.
Moving west down the property. One window is covered on the inside, and the 10 atrium windows are frosted. However, the set of windows with an arch, are uncovered, as are the next set of atrium windows.
Someone has broke in.
Down to the next set of windows. Left behind store fixtures.
With some great dead branches sticking up all creepy and stuff.
The green door is the main customer entrance, and the window beside it is partially shattered.
Looking inside the partially shattered window. This seems to be a newer part of the building, as it’s more of a display area compared to the more functional space in the green and white room.
Plastic flower decorations sitting on the windowsill.
Green front door.
Brown door inside green front door.
Looking in the window to the left of the entrance. It was mostly concealed in that picture, but trust me, it was there.
Given the large display cases on the right side, I’d have to assume this was the main retail sales floor. Given that I have zero frame of reference as for shopping in flower/garden stores, I really can’t tell you much about how operations were.
Stepping back to the western corner of the lot. This side also looked to be of different builds. The front half (right side) would be the retail floor and display cases, with more of the storage and prep work done back there, A green wooden fence blocks off a small house. I didn’t know until later, that it was part of the property.
Looking inside the first window, towards the green and white room. Main entrance on your right.
The coolers. Which I’m assuming would display bouquets and arrangements.
Saloon doors that block off the “adults only” section of the flower shop.
To my immediate left was this small boxed in area, with a small flower bed fronting it.
Next to that little area was another green painted door, with a hand painted sign on it. This door was covered on the inside, but there was a tiny space for a camera lens…
Yup… That’s some stuff there…
The rest of the windows were covered, but I found a small lens sized gap, which continues the last picture. Albeit burrier…
I wrapped up my photos at this point, and walked back to the car. Less than 5 minutes after I started. While he was still okay for the most part, it was already a distinct possibility that my dad could get confused, not know where he was or what was going on. I couldn’t rule out him deciding to take my car and driving off, because he couldn’t remember why he was there.
******
Saturday, July 28, 2018
This was during that especially dark three and a half month stretch of time, between when Laura and I moved from Colorado to Minnesota, to when we moved into our house. We were living separate, at our respective parents houses, until we got our own place. Because that’s the nature of the beast, it drove us insane. Both of us wasted lots of time at various retail and public places. Anything to NOT be at home as much as we could. On this afternoon, we were just driving around and I suggested a stop at the abandoned Nature’s Nursery. Adding an update to the photos I’d taken a year earlier. Since I liked what I saw then, I wanted more and new material.
Just like my dad about a year earlier, Laura didn’t want to get out of the car either.
Doesn’t anyone want to go on an adventure with me?
I do like that sign…
This photo was taken on June 12, 2018. Which was the first time I drove by, after we moved back to Minnesota. Didin’t know for certain it was still here, so a wellness check was in order.
Entering the property on the southeast side. Looking pretty much the same as it did last October.
But I won’t know until I take a closer look.
No new notable damage in this area.
Starting on the far southeast corner of the greenhouse. A window that was unbroken, yet filthy. Affecting the focus, but I liked the plants growing inside too much to leave it out.
Outside the window I was looking in. The overgrowth was significant around the greenhouse.
Moving down to where the windows are just plain not there…
Looking straight across the greenhouse.
To the right…
To the left…
Glass is still holding together despite the hefty puncture wound.
Something tells me that security sticker above the handle is lying.
Looking inside the glass hole.
Weeds growing in front of the still wide open building.
Making my way down the sidewalk…
A bunch of garbage has been dumped inside the building. Along with a cool hand painted sign, propped up against the wall, by the door. “Garden Products, Pond Care - Koi”. Someone needs to find the hand painted sign listing cheap broken furniture and liquor boxes.
Main entrance and windows. Everything still pretty intact compared to last year.
Window next to the door. Not any more broken than it was. It is a lot more stained this year…
Just liked the cracked numbers, which have likely been baking in the sun for several decades.
West side parking, with grassy carpet.
Inside first window, looking back in the green and white room.
Display cases with a big soft cooler?
Back when I used to give rides to pizza, we used these bags for orders of 4 or more boxes. So my first thought was of a current delivery driver stopping by the abandoned flower shop. Then he ate the pizzas and left the cooler bag behind.
That always happens…
Access to the flower shop peep shows, just through the saloon doors…
Hmmm…. What’s on that really dusty table?
A picture of a flower, and text I really can’t read. Looks like part of it says: “Royal Majesty”.
Grass covered parking lot. Not much has changed since last year on this side either…
Not a huge increase in trash dumped behind the flower bed.
That employees only door.
Inside of it.
Another angle from the parking lot grass.
Normally I’d say that’s about it, but it’s not… While looking through the windows of the retail space, I saw something interesting. I flipped back through my camera, to make sure I got a decent picture, but I didn’t. So I went back for a second attempt, but used my phone instead of my camera. (Should have probably just used my phone for all pictures. It typically did a better job.)
Looking in the second window off the retail floor. Someone has set up a little workstation to process something cryptic.
Maybe I can try to show this a little clearer…
ENHANCE!
Words written on that sheet of glass: “He’s Angry. Don’t go downstairs! Too much blood. June 25, 2018 (just over a month ago, when I took this). It’s invisible. Where’s the bodies?”
I couldn’t see enough of the book to figure out what that was. Nor anything about the bundles of receipts around the table. Next to the glass was a map of Coon Rapids, with a vague point circled to the southeast, with “beware” and “He’s here” written on it. The location of Nature’s Nursery represented by the big black oval drawn onto the map.
My first thought was some kids are hanging out inside, and are trying to work out some sort of low budget homemade horror movie. Community College student film perhaps? If that’s the case, I REALLY hope that something was eventually shot and will see the light of day.
I didn’t know how badly I needed a Nature’s Nursery horror movie until now…
Since no real effort was put into keeping people out, people went in.
And if some of those people that went in, filmed a cringeworthy horror movie while hanging out there, all the better for it.
******
My memory was jogged while doing my patented Half-Assed Research. In 2016, there was chatter about the Nature’s Nursery property becoming home to a new apartment building. Finding a few comments from people on Facebook, but it wasn’t serious enough to pay close attention to. Though I see that it did get as far as the city rezoning the property to high density residential. Which I didn’t know. Found this blurb in amongst the Coon Rapids Herald’s archives:
Posted on: November 4, 2016
[ARCHIVED] Old Pederson Floral Site Rezoned to High Density Residential
COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- The property an old flower shop sits on off Coon Rapids Boulevard is being rezoned.
On a split vote Tuesday night, the City Council voted to rezone the Pederson Floral site and surrounding area from office, general commercial and moderate density residential to high density residential.
The area being rezoned totals 2.3 acres including the old flower shop. Firm Ground Architects and Engineers Incorporated is proposing a 98 unit apartment building on the site. Those plans still need to be presented to the city and approved by the Planning Commission and Council.
Found no additional references to apartment building plans for this site. Given the size, shape and access to the property, I don’t know how it could work for 98 units. Parking would be an issue. No matter how you position the access to Coon Rapids Blvd., you’re going to have major traffic issues. Especially having no left turns possible.
When we moved back in 2018, the building still had the Coldwell Banker Reality for sale sign out front.
Wiser heads must have prevailed here.
Merry X-Mess Nature’s Nursery!
******
Monday, September 9, 2019
Laura and I ended up getting a house located were I would have to drive past Nature’s Nursery every day on my to work and back. On this day, I’d left work early due to reasons, and felt it would be a good time to stop by for another round of abandoned flower shop pictures.
The Nature’s Nursery sign has been removed from the frame, and the Coldwell Banker Reality for sale sign is also gone. Not sure exactly when, but at some point in 2019, the property had been sold. Which must have been prior to my stopping by for a walk.
Mission was planned when I took this photo on my eastbound drive to work. The boarded up front door and window was a new event, so for the first time in a while, something is starting to happen at the property.
The greenhouse area was now being demolished. For safety’s sake, probably the best idea. You wouldn’t want all that stuff to come crashing down on stupid teenagers that keep breaking in, to destroy the place from the inside…
What was left of the walls were being pushed in, and all pieces of the greenhouse roof have been removed.
That resilient entrance door, with the BS security sticker, has taken on more punishment. The holes are bigger now, and too many pieces of greenhouse are piled in front to take a decent, through the glass hole shot.
Other than new plywood covering the main entrance and window, this section of the building is holding up fairly well.
This area has been cleaned out. At least the broken furniture and liquor boxes.
Oh, they’ve just been piled into this corner…
Can’t look through here any longer.
Retail display area still looking pretty ok.
The back half of the building has been boarded up, and some of the green fence is now missing.
I am compelled to look…
Movie props have been cleared away. However, a new stack of receipts have appeared on the same table…
Wonder if “He” is still angry?
Or if anyone went downstairs…
Over 18 section looking the same.
Back portion of the retail floor.
For a shop this size, they sure had a lot of shelving stuffed in different areas of the building.
Hated cleaning that stuff back in the Phillips days. Combination of fragile, yet impossible to take apart and put back together. Far too heavy as well.
Yup, the back end sealed up completely.
From here, I stopped back to the missing parts of the green fence. There was a house, and a couple other structures back here, in an overgrown part of the property. Quickly whipped around the area, taking pictures without waiting that spilt second to make sure the exposure and focus is set. Hate that I still tend to do that sometimes.
A small shack appears in the distance, almost completely covered by trees.
Should have taken a few more seconds to get a better look.
Behind the back building was a small addition. Possibly an office at some point?
Maybe a small house?
Greenhouse remains. Currently being taken down and removed from the property.
From another angle.
Separate house on the property. This one was located directly behind the green fence.
The green house sat attached to the back end of the retail building.
Both souses had clearly been closed up for a long time.
Would have loved to see inside them, but I didn’t want to linger.
Satisfied with today’s new additions to the photo supply, it was time to leave.
I’ll check back next year…
******
All the times I looked around the property, I’d never examined the far eastern edge. When I’d parked in the lot, all I saw was a huge overgrown tree/bush. Behind it was actually a driveway, leading around behind the greenhouse.
The Googlesmobile made a U-Turn in U Haul’s parking lot, and aimed their camera directly into that overgrown alley, showing demolition progress on the greenhouse. From the parking lot of Nature’s Nursery, it just looked like a big tree. Now I know…
Saturday, November 16, 2019.
The greenhouse has now been completely cleared out.
U Haul has made their move, and are taking over the Nursery…
You think that little truck is innocent?
It’s complicit!
******
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Another day of short work, due to Covid… That was such a surreal period of life… I’d go to work at the usual time, and there would be no cars on the road. At 1:30 in the afternoon. Quite often, there wouldn’t be enough work to fill out a full shift, and I’d go back home after a few hours. Income supplemented by unemployment. Some days, I didn’t go in at all. Which was very helpful a few months earlier, as I really needed time to help my parents after the house fire.
On the almost lonely rush hour drive home tonight, I decided to stop by Nature’s Nursery. Snapping a photo of U Haul, since they’d soon be taking over the Nursery.
The front part of the U Haul building (under the wavy orange line), and garage behind it, used to be Art Goebel Ford. As far as I could find out, this location opened in the mid to late 1960’s. U Haul took over the property shortly after Art Goebel Ford left.
Art previously operated his Ford dealership in downtown Anoka, in 1954 (where Bridge Square Mall is today), before moving to 3401 Coon Rapids Blvd., in the mid to late 1960’s. This building had several major renovations over the years, but is the original Art Goebel Ford.
Art Goebel Ford - June 1984 Coon Rapids Herald ad.
My family bought a few cars from this location. Two of mine came from here. Remember spending hours here in 1996 and 2000, hammering out details for purchasing the Vanilla and Blueberry Honksicles.
Art Goebel Ford - Keychain
Art Goebel sold the dealership and the Coon Rapids Blvd. location closed. I think that was in 2001 or 2002. Goebel himself lived until 2023, passing away at 96 years old. Now owned by the Luther Automotive Group, a new and much larger dealership was built a few miles northeast, along the freeway.
Now known as North Country Ford.
Juvenile Photoshoppery that makes my inner 12 year old giggle…
U Haul has announced their takeover, using Nature’s Nursery’s own sign.
So disrespectful…
Building looks strange without the greenhouse.
Funny they didn’t mow down those trees, when they mowed down the greenhouse.
Still didn’t seal off the open entrances.
You’re next!
Ironically, that’s the most flowers I’ve ever seen inside this building!
Someone knocked over the pile of liquor store boxes.
Front entrance.
Still the front entrance.
That you cannot use to enter.
The retail area has now been completely trashed. This is sad.
Bullet hole.
West side of the property.
Missed the glass busting party…
Ooooh! Lavender bleach! How fancy!
Hmmm… There’s two cup next to the fancy bleach… August 2020, was like peak Covid times… Around then, President Pig Shit was suggesting that you drink bleach to fight Covid… Did some cult members break in, chug-a-lug bleach and shatter as much glass as they could?
So many questions…
Is he still mad?
Did they go in to the basement?!
This is just sad. Yes, the building is being demolished and will never be used again...
But seeing it look this destroyed for no reason, bums me out.
The adult room has been left wide open.
Think of the children!
Looks about the same as last time.
Nothing to see here…
Some of the foliage around the fence and house has been cut away.
Weeds are still pretty deep. And I’m wearing shorts.
No thanks, I’ll stand here.
The little building I saw under the trees is gone.
So are the trees.
One last look back at the grass covered parking lot, little house and garage, and the missing fence and the boarded up Nursery.
Goodbye, I have other places to be…
******
April 6, 2022
Regrettably, I didn’t stop by for another round of photos. U Haul started using the property to park excess rental trucks in the lot, and more and more of the windows were being boarded up.
More and more equipment was filling the parking lot of Nature’s Nursery. U Haul trucks on one side, dumpsters on the other. Someone is going something with the sign frame.
ENHANCE!
Figured they were dismantling it for the demolition. However, the sign stood for another year or so, after the building was torn down, and a new one put up.
Driving to work, I finally saw what I’d been waiting years to see.
Had to circle the block, but I got two great mid-demolition photos of Nature’s Nursery.
The next day’s drive to work. Just some rubble left behind.
The next day’s drive to work. Clearing out rubble left behind.
Trucks ready to haul it away.
The next day’s drive to work. Site clearing is almost complete.
Not much left to say about this place...
******
Mr. Pederson Likes Me!
In the fall of 2011, Laura started a group on Facebook, dedicated to people sharing memories of Coon Rapids, past and present. I was one of the first people invited to the group (we hadn’t yet gotten together at that point), and within days I was made an admin. The group grew fast and had over a thousand members within weeks, and had over 10,000 members by 2020. Around 2015, Laura wasn’t able to continue maintaining the group. I pretty much ran it alone until I finally had enough of Facebook, and the people of Facebook, quitting in May, 2023. VASTLY improving my mental state, in the process.
I chalk it up to seeing one “Let’s go Brandon” meme too many, and I simply had to get it out of my life forever.
Around the time of Nature’s Nursery’s demolition, there was a lot of talk about it (and Pederson Floral) in the Facebook group. I uploaded several photos of the building as it was being prepped for demolition, as well as being demolished. (You just saw them…) During this time, a member of the Pederson family requested to join the group. Thinking he may have something worthwhile to offer, I okay’d it without hesitation.
He didn’t offer much… Answered a few comments about the family business, while softly plugging his own.
Well, that’s all cool and stuff. No issues there.
Three days later, I’m greeted by this nonsense:
Wow…
Guess I’d be angry too, if I couldn’t understand that whole concept of word-comma-space-word, style of sentence structure… From his hostile garbled word salad of a response, I think he’s saying that I should upload a photo of where I live? Uh... So he can make fun of it? Or something?
Which makes no sense at all. Considering that, A: I don’t own any property that I’m neglecting to the point where the community calls it an eyesore… And B: You don’t live in an abandoned flower shop! So he’s comparing apples and chicken. Then getting angry about it.
After my reply, he quickly deleted his comment and left the group.
Had there been a follow up, I would have explained to him that; your family, as property owners, are absolutely still responsible for upkeep and securing the property itself. Board up all the windows. Seal the greenhouse building. Put a fence around the buildings. Something. Just because you closed the doors to retail sales, doesn’t mean you no longer have to secure the property, and clean up after the vandals destroyed the place. All that is on YOU. And you deserve criticism for how YOU let the property deteriorate. Which stays your responsibility until U Haul bought the land in 2019. Now they are responsible for keeping the property up to code. That’s how all this works.
You joined the group to enjoy all the compliments about your family’s business, while ignoring the nearly equal amount of people celebrating the crumbling building’s demolition.
You don’t get to have it both ways.
******
So what happened next?
May 21, 2022. - The property has been cleared. All that remains is a bit of the parking lot up front, with some dirt behind it.
August 25, 2022. - Work on leveling the land and prep for laying the foundation have been going on for about a month.
October 5, 2022. - Steel framework going up. The size of the new building surprised me. U Haul’s existing indoor storage building next door is absolutely dwarfed.
December 16, 2022. - Exterior walls are now filled in.
July 5, 2023. - U Haul’s new multi-story self storage is open and ugly.
Not sure what those weird green gradient rectangles painted on the walls are supposed to be. Same thing with the pointless grey rectangles with the blue accent trim on top. Matches really poorly with the orange brick at the base of the building. Even more strange, it doesn’t match the existing color scheme on the U Haul buildings next door. Guess someone thought this was a good idea.
Looks pretty stupid to me.
Let’s wrap this up with another little taste of Art Goebel Ford’s past…
How about their logo, Which was pretty cool, from the same 1995 Illustrated Map of Crapids, where it was next to Pederson Floral’s?
Or a 1990’s vintage Art Goebel Ford plastic license plate?
Alright, it’s time to go do something else…
As far as the end result, Coon Rapids lost another historic piece of its past, in the demolition of the old Pederson Floral building. And it needed to go. It was obsolete and taking up valuable space. The property looked neglected and the community wanted it gone. I know I’m in the tiniest of minority but I found that decay to be beautiful. This became one of my favorite properties in town because I watched a distinct looking building decay on a near daily basis. And that decay was interesting to see.
Guess I need to incorporate Northdale Shopping Center into my routes more often…
The big new U Haul storage lockers are very popular. Likely because as people are trying to downsize, they gotta find more room for the stuff they don’t want to get rid of. I can relate. I’d love to get rid of stuff, I just don’t have the time to dig through it all. To figure out what I have and where it is.
Coon Rapids has seen an abundance of these storage units built around town, over the last few years.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…
Crapids… A place for your crap.
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