Jockey Lounge
The Jockey Lounge and the Libation Station were located at 2417 W. 7th in the Sibley Plaza Shopping Center in St. Paul. The Sibley Plaza Shopping Center was built in 1954 in Highland Park, West St. Paul.
SIBLEY “24” BOWLING
The first mention of the address in the Star Tribune is an ad for a bowling alley on February 10, 1958. It was one of several bowling alleys opened by brothers Albert, David, and Joseph Stein. The bowling alley was destroyed by fire on November 29, 1966. The five-alarm fire started in the bowling alley’s newly-decorated lounge and required 15 pieces of apparatus and 55 men to extinguish.
DERBY LANES/JOCKEY LOUNGE
The Sibley “24” Bowling Alley was replaced by Derby Lanes, and within the new bowling alley was the Jockey Lounge. The first ad for the Jockey Lounge shows up on February 29, 1968.
Minneapolis Star, February 29, 1968
On December 19, 1973, James R. Enroth, son of Twin Cities sportscaster Dick Enroth, was severely beaten outside the Jockey Lounge, where he was attending an office party for his employer, Sperry Univac. Enroth was 28 and suffered a skull fracture when he fell to the pavement. He died on December 22. A Blaine man was charged with second degree manslaughter, but the Grand Jury cleared him when it heard testimony that Enroth was the aggressor.
November 16, 1975
November 14, 1976
The last ad we see for the Jockey Lounge is December 5, 1976.
LIBATION STATION
The first mention of the Libation Station in the Minneapolis Star that wasn’t a crossword puzzle clue appeared on May 31, 1977, in a calendar of events that showed an opening on June 1, 1977. The musical fare was mostly country rock. One of the first acts was the venerable Sherwin Linton!
Minneapolis Star, July 21, 1977
Sandra Kenyon’s husband was in a band called Montana Starr, which morphed into db Cooper, and spent some time at the bar in the late ’70s. She says, “It got pretty wild! There was mud and jello wrestling , wet tee shirt contests, and many brawls!”
A man named John Durocher, just out of jail for fraud, purchased the Libation Station and had big plans for a video and pizza delivery service. He owned this location in 1979 but he got arrested again and this time he took it on the run. (Minneapolis Star article by Carol Byrne, March 24, 1986)
In later years the music got harder, with big sound groups like Brainiac and Cain.
Also unclear when the Libation Station closed. The last calendar entry was in August of 1982, but it was included in the Happenings Book issued in November 1984.
In February of 1985 the location became a Goodwill store.