Former Viking Sacks Architect & Pillages Reputation

Back in the day, Carl Eller was part of the vaunted "Purple People Eaters" defensive line that made life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. Now, he's making life miserable for a local architecture firm as reported by Paul Demko in City Pages:

In April 2003, Progressive Architecture agreed to design a new upscale restaurant at the Mall of America that was to be called the Purple People Eatery.

Whoa, whoa. Timeout. "Progressive Architecture?" Wasn't that the name that Atomizer planned to use when he starts his own firm someday? Back to the drawing board (no pun intended) mate.

The project was spearheaded by a trio of investors: Gary Carlson, Richard Ivance, and--most notably--former Vikings great and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Carl Eller. It was envisioned as both a football shrine and an upscale restaurant, sort of a Hard Rock Cafe for local gridiron fans.

Yeah, 'cause Lord knows we don't have enough places like that in town.

Over a three-month period, Mower says, the firm racked up more than $100,000 of work on the restaurant. On June 13 of 2003, Carlson delivered the first substantial down payment, a check for $18,000 from Shawn Properties, his development company. But before Progressive Architecture could deposit the funds, Mower reports, payment on the check was stopped.

"I can't remember what excuse he used at that time," says Mower. "Of course he reassured me that [it was] all going to be taken care of in a matter of days."

But when weeks went by without payment, Mower says, Progressive Architecture retained a lawyer and drafted a lawsuit. As the architect retells it, the trio of Purple People Eatery investors initially agreed to make good on the bill, and Mower held off filing the case in court. Weeks--and then months--passed without payment. Mower says that another bad check, this time for $5,000, was given to the firm in January 2004. "It was supposed to be a series of payments and nothing came through," recalls Mower. "It was just a series of broken promises."

An experience that I'm sure all Vikings fans can easily relate to.

Finally last month, Progressive Architecture sued the Purple People Eatery and its trio of investors in Ramsey County District Court. The firm is seeking more than $130,000 in damages. "I don't have any idea what resources they may have," says Peter Tiede, the attorney handling the case.

The Purple People Eatery did eventually open--but not in the Mall of America. The upscale, Vikings-themed restaurant debuted in Woodbury in November, serving such dishes as Fran Tarkenton's Lobster Medallions and Jerry Burns's Five Cheese Cavitapi. Perhaps most notably, Bud Grant's Pheasant Breast sold for a whopping $45. A two-star review last month in the Star Tribune disparaged several dishes, as well as the service.

But the restaurant abruptly closed soon after. "We're checking some of the [menu] items," Eller explained to the Pioneer Press. "Some didn't have appeal." The restaurant's phone is no longer in service, and a visit to the building reveals only a sign stating that the eatery is "closed for remodeling"--a strange assertion given that it opened less than three months ago.

The menu didn't have appeal? Sounds like a lot of heartache, financial troubles, and legal battles could have been avoided if Carl had only heeded Fuzzy Nietzsche's advice and gone with the Top 11 New Items on the Vikings Themed Restaurant Menu.

But in every dark cloud, there's always a silver lining.

Progressive Architecture has since rebounded from near bankruptcy. The firm now has a staff of five and a steady workload designing restaurants, dental offices, and other businesses. But Mower is still rankled by his brush with the Purple People Eatery. "The worst part is I'm a Packers fan," he says. "Now I am even more."

If somebody's going to get screwed over by an ex-Viking it might as well be a Packer fan.