Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Dark legal clouds hanging over the Stars & Strikes Entertainment Center in Wyoming may be lifting.

A settlement agreement reached on July 9th is expected to end an ownership dispute and draw to a close a series of lawsuits that have dogged the bowling alley and entertainment complex that opened one year ago.

Nancy Immel, one of the original partners in the business group that launched the multi-million dollar venture, said this week that within 30 days all legal disputes and mechanics liens filed during the past six months should be brought to closure.

“There are still a lot of balls in the air,” Immel said.

The settlement agreement essentially means that working partners Mike and Betsy Rud will step away from the Stars & Strikes operation while the Immel group, which includes her three brothers, will take over the operation, Immel said in an interview last week.

The legal dispute between Immel and her brothers and the Ruds has been ongoing since this spring when a lawsuit wound up in Judge Robert Rancourt’s Chisago County District Court.

The case was slated to go to trial next month in Center City.

A court-appointed receiver, Lighthouse Management Group of Minnetonka, is expected to be replaced, Immel said.

Immel said she has secured the interim services of Trifecta Management Group of Agoura Hills, CA, and is likely to engage the company in long-term management of Stars & Strikes. The firm has extensive management experience with restaurants and entertainment businesses.

Move forward

Immel said she was not allowed to speak of specific terms of the settlement agreement because of a confidentiality agreement that is in place.

Immel, who led the process to build Stars & Strikes over several years prior to the start of construction in 2005, said she was relieved the lawsuit would stop and the facility would be able to move forward.

“The doors are going to remain open,” she said. “There is no bankruptcy.”

Immel said the agreement should calm public fears that the business was failing and enable the public to move forward with plans to use the facility, be it for birthday parties, banquets, public bowling, a place to have lunch or dinner or for forming teams for the start of the late summer bowling leagues.

She said the complex may seek refinancing of its mortgage and the new limited liability company that controls the center may recruit new investors.

“Now we are in it for the long haul,” Immel said. “We’re still going to need the community support for this to do a turnaround.”

In the one year that Stars & Strikes has been open, Immel said it has been a story of contrast. She said the business performed well in its first six months but then saw business fall off.

Immel said she believes the new management firm will be skilled at better staffing and promoting the facility. That could mean stronger utilization of the 24 bowling lanes and the remaining recreational components that Stars & Strikes commands, she said.

As part of its services, Trifecta will evaluate all aspects of the business from the cost charged the public for bowling to the price for food in the grill and main dining room.

The lawsuit

The legal action that began last spring describes the story of a divide in the ownership group that in some ways resembled a divorce.

The suit was brought by Immel and her business, NKI Leasing, Inc. which does business as Bar Outfitters, Immel individually and her three brothers, Grant, Robert and Roy Wheaton. Defendants in the suit were Elizabeth (Betsy) Rud and Michael Rud.

Immel and the Ruds were the operating officers of Stars & Strikes. LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company. Under the member control agreement, each of the partners was to contribute $200,000 to the project.

Court papers filed in the case show Immel contributed a total of $287,000 while her three brothers combined for $250,000 in capital. Court records show the Ruds contributed just under $28,000 of their required $400,000 capital investment.

Court papers also show Immel’s Bar Outfitters, a restaurant and bar supply company, also sold equipment to Stars & Strikes at a substantial discount from list prices and was owed $514,168.57 for unpaid equipment invoices.

In all, court records show Immel invested approximately $751,000 in Stars & Strikes. With the investments of her three brothers, total grows to just under $1 million.

The suit also involves management control issues with Immel alleging that the Ruds refused to provide financial records that she needed to carry out her duties as chief financial manager.

The suit alleged that the Ruds had “virtually usurped total control of Stars & Strikes” against the will of Immel and her brothers and engaged in “harassment.”

Along with ending the legal dispute, the settlement agreement will also be a step in clearing the liens filed with the court against the entertainment center. That list, which is just under $1 million in unpaid debt, includes the money owned Immel’s Bar Outfitters and several other firms, including the general contractor on the project.

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