Who we are

This building was built in 1912 by Gerhard Penner, a Prussian immigrant who came to Whitewater in 1884. it was constructed of brick made from clay from the east bank of the Whitewater River by Fessler Kiln of Whitewater. It was home to the Penner Department Store offering both dry goods and groceries to customers. The Penner store was the first to install gas lights in a business establishment. Gerhard retired about 1921 after selling the store to his oldest son, Arthur H. (“Nix”) Penner. The store operated till the 1950’s. At some point after that, the building was home to Mel’s Diner, a restaurant owned and operated by Melvin Tilson, who went on to establish the “Mr. Steak” restaurants in Wichita.

In the sixties it was sold to Pete Klassen. Pete remodeled the building and had the center wall removed, and the beams installed to provide more space for his new store- “Klassen’s Grocery”

After Pete Klassen retired, several people tried to keep the grocery store open but couldn’t compete with the big town stores. There were some years of vacancy, and then Neal Allmond purchased the building and ran an auction house and renovated the second floor on the north side into two loft apartments.

In 2020, the building was purchased by Ed and Chris Flora. Owing to the vision and skill of our friend and architect, Dan Wilson, as well as the inspiration of some dear friends and family, the vision to redeem the old building came to life and in 2023 the redemption began!

We are excited to be a new addition to the Whitewater community and see all the ways in which the Lord will use this building for His good.