Russ Bauer has some unusual advice for people who stumble into his business.
"Don't even think about buying the first time," Bauer says. "It's too mind-boggling."
Whether you're hunting for an antique door, a McDonald's drive-through or even a firetruck, it's probably tucked somewhere amid the orderly chaos of Bauer Brothers, the state's largest building materials salvage yard. The nondescript, 93,000-square-foot north Minneapolis warehouses are packed with the detritus from myriad renovations and demolitions across the Twin Cities.
Labyrinthine aisles are lined with the essential elements of urban life, now awaiting new homes after being yanked out of their original contexts.
There's the cell door from a jail ("We've been in several," Bauer says), the downtown YMCA's old sauna machine, the "A.D. 1959" cornerstone from Hennepin County's old Highway Department building in Hopkins, and waiting-area seats from the airport. It took five men to haul in two large projectors that came from Northrop Auditorium's renovation, along with hundreds of seats.
Shoppers can take home the air siren from Minneapolis' Marshall-University High School, lockers from the Dorothy Day Center or a massive chandelier from a mansion on the St. Croix River. There's even a 1957 firetruck from the city of Ely.
"It seems to get bigger every year," Bauer says. "I keep saying I don't want to get bigger, but how do you not?"
For contractors and remodelers, the highlight is endless rows of housing materials like old doors, windows and floorboards. One hall gleams white with antique bathtubs and sinks, while another is bedecked with multicolored radiators.