Minnesota Blue Flame Lodge Gets A New Roof!!!!


“Rain drops keep falling on my head…” – Not anymore!

The Blue Flame Lodge at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds finally got a new roof.

The new roof was scheduled to be put on before the 2016 Minnesota State Fair but was delayed until after the State Fair due to rain and hot weather. It took two days to remove the old roof, do any repairs to damaged roof decking, and to put the new roof on.

The Blue Flame Lodge at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds is located at 1311 Nelson St., next to the K102 booth and across from the Giant Slide. The Lodge has been around since 1968 helping to educate hundreds of thousands of fairgoers on the benefits of natural gas, safety, conservation, and showcasing the latest and greatest of natural gas technologies and equipment being offered by Blue Flame member companies. Whether you are a company that has natural gas products or services to offer or if you are a consumer looking to learn more about natural gas products to buy, the Blue Flame is a great resource!

For the past two years, the Residential/State Fair Committee had been researching roof options and looking for ways to obtain the capital needed for the new roof project. The Committee and Board worked hard to make the new roof happen in 2016. The selection of the contractor – Horizon Roofing – and securing of the necessary funds was a huge achievement done in just a couple of months time!

The Lodge’s old roof was a flat black rubber roof with roof drains that came inside the Lodge only to go out again. This caused problems in the cold winter months with freezing and cracking of the roof drains. Moving the drains to the outside of the building has reduced the risk of leaks and decreased the energy consumption since the heat tapes are no longer required to keep the roof drains from freezing. The rubber roof was approximately 23 years old so it was due for a replacement.

The old rubber roof was removed and replaced with a mechanically attached PVC roof system utilizing RhinoBond technology complete with the manufacturer’s recommended flashing for a 15-year warranty.

Paul Bertucci with Franklin Energy and Jeff Larson with Minnesota Energy Resources were the co-chairs of the New Roof Project. Their dedication and hard work on this project was greatly appreciated!! Jeff was instrumental in securing the capital and Paul did an amazing job of coordinating the construction process! Thank you to both of them for their time, hard work, and efforts!

Major donations from CenterPoint Energy, Minnesota Energy Resources (and their charitable giving entity, Wisconsin Public Service Foundation) and Xcel Energy made the new roof possible. A big THANK YOU to them for their support, leadership, commitment, and belief in the Minnesota Blue Flame and in the value of the Minnesota Blue Flame Lodge at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds!

Reserve your company’s booth space now or simply stop by when you’re at the State Fair and relax in AC, have a nice cold drink of water, and stay dry under our new roof!