Rumors are circulating that The Loading Zone on 10th Avenue South will be shutting down, and also – possibly – the nearby Buffalo Saloon.
Some people have told me that a tire shop is going to be built on the property.
And knowing there is a new Les Schwab tire shop opening soon just a few blocks down from here – and that a large car wash is being built just a few blocks farther down, just months after a large car wash opened just a few more blocks down – and the now-notorious “two mattress shops!” built within a few hundred yards of each other a few years ago (one recently closed) – well, it wouldn’t surprise me if this space soon becomes a tire shop.
BUT – nothing official – don’t know yet if there is any truth to the rumors.
I’ve only been inside the Loading Zone once. My buddy Jeff – mild-mannered Air Force pharmacist by day, head-banging drummer by night – was performing with his band Enceladus for a “reunion concert” in April 2007. I promised to stop by and check it out. It was…loud. Very loud!
Sadly, the Loading Zone was also the scene of a horrific incident in September 2011. Three people died when a man crashed into a crowd of people outside; the entrance to the Zone is perilously close to 10th Avenue South. One of the people who died was Daigerrys Leon, an airman stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
On Sept. 25, 2011, in Great Falls, Mont., Dee received a phone call from a friend that had been drinking and needed a ride. Being the good friend she was, she agreed. She was patiently standing in the parking lot with a group of friends waiting when a truck veered into the parking lot and struck Dee.
SSgt Katie Gieratz
The other two people who died were Jeffrey Scott and Tony Hiatt. The person responsible, Jason Rosander, was legally intoxicated at the time. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with 10 of those years suspended. He was also ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to the victims’ families.
