The Forge Social Haus - Axe Throwing Lanes

DONATION LEVEL GIVEAWAYS!

To show our appreciation, we want to offer the following rewards for donations to our campaign.

Any amount = Our sincere appreciation. THANK YOU for supporting our dream!

$50 = The Forge Social Haus t-shirt. Your new favorite goin' to town shirt.

$250 = Customized engraved axe handle to be displayed on our donor wall of fame near the axe throwing lanes in our downtown building.

$500 = Invite to our soft opening. Be one of the first people to walk through our doors. You and a guest are invited to our soft opening where you can sample the beverages, throw some axes, and brag to all of your friends that you were a part of making this happen!

$1500 = 1 free hour of axe throwing at our downtown location for you and up to 23 of your closest friends. Must be 18+ to throw!

$5000 = Private event. Let us entertain you and 23 guests at our downtown location. Have the entire place to yourselves and celebrate any occasion or no occasion other than being awesome. Children under 18 years old are welcome to attend, but cannot throw axes and are not counted in the final guest headcount!



We are two Iron Range families looking to fill a gap in the downtown community. The Forge Social Haus has been in the development stage for close to a year and we are excited to take the next step and put all of the plans in motion and are excited for you to join us!

 

We purchased the Manseau's Range Music building and two adjacent lots on Chestnut Street in Virginia last summer and have been fortunate to work with Elden Lindamood at LHB, Inc in Duluth to put all of our ideas onto paper.

 

 

 

 

 

We continue to work closely with The Northland Small Business Development Center, the IRRR, VEDA, DEED, and the city of Virginia to ensure that our business model is sustainable and the building is visually historically accurate. We have been fortunate to be recipients of numerous grants to assist with the demolition of the original building, to fund our work with the architect for this project, and to assist with construction. However we have also run into roadblocks along the way. Securing financing for our project has been challenging. We are two middle-class families that are hoping to help lift up our downtown, but the scale of our project and the fact that there is nothing like this comparable in the area makes the bank hesitant to provide us with the loans that we need to continue. We continue to look into all of our options for financing, grants, and funding.

 

We envision an environment that is family-friendly with plenty of yard games and outdoor space on our patio. Craft beers, seltzers, and non-alcoholic drinks will be available. We plan to partner with local businesses for pre-packaged snacks available for purchase and have space in the back of our lot to invite food trucks to park and serve.

 

What we believe will be the main draw, and what we need the most help with, is our 4 lane axe throwing area located in the back of the building. Axe throwing is a growing recreational sport and we will adhere to the World Axe Throwing League's rules and regulations (read more about them here !) while offering a safe and fun way to gather with friends and family to learn the game or hone your skills. We also currently offer a mobile axe throwing trailer that is available for rent!

 

The construction portion of our indoor axe throwing lanes is estimated to be close to $200,000. Our timeline is currently on track for opening our doors downtown Virginia in the beginning of 2023.

 

We can't express how much we appreciate you taking the time to read this and for following along. We are humbled by the amount of support that we have already received and are very excited to be sharing this project with the community we love so much. We will be providing updates to the project as we have them and promise to keep everyone in the loop. We hope you are as excited as we are and can't wait to see you downtown Virginia!

 

Thank you!

Lindsay and Keith Niemi

Brad and Kim Gustafson


DONATION LEVEL GIVEAWAYS!

To show our appreciation, we want to offer the following rewards for donations to our campaign.

Any amount = Our sincere appreciation. THANK YOU for supporting our dream!

$50 = The Forge Social Haus t-shirt. Your new favorite goin' to town shirt.

$250 = Customized engraved axe handle to be displayed on our donor wall of fame near the axe throwing lanes in our downtown building.

$500 = Invite to our soft opening. Be one of the first people to walk through our doors. You and a guest are invited to our soft opening where you can sample the beverages, throw some axes, and brag to all of your friends that you were a part of making this happen!

$1500 = 1 free hour of axe throwing at our downtown location for you and up to 23 of your closest friends. Must be 18+ to throw!

$5000 = Private event. Let us entertain you and 23 guests at our downtown location. Have the entire place to yourselves and celebrate any occasion or no occasion other than being awesome. Children under 18 years old are welcome to attend, but cannot throw axes and are not counted in the final guest headcount!