Truck crashes into West Duluth's Tappa Keg Inn

The owners of the Tappa Keg Inn in West Duluth spent Saturday morning cleaning up debris after a truck slammed into the side of the building overnight.

With the temperature still below zero, Dick Kelly was picking up pieces of the front of the building at 7036 Grand Ave. A truck hit the front of the restaurant and bar at about 1:20 a.m. Saturday. Kelly’s wife, Sandy, was in their home upstairs in the same building at the time of the crash.

“She was sleeping and everything fell off the wall,” Dick Kelly said. “She thought a burglar was in the house. Then she saw that a truck was in the building.”

Duluth police said a witness driving eastbound on Grand Avenue saw a truck pass by at a high rate of speed, and the driver appeared to be losing control of the vehicle. By the time the witness reached the Tappa Keg Inn, the truck had gone off the road and hit the building.

The 20-year-old male driver of the truck was cited for careless driving. No one was injured.

Dick Kelly, who has owned the business since 1971, said there was damage to the bar and a storeroom; a portable marquee sign at the front of the building was destroyed.

More significantly, the truck hit a natural gas main, disrupting gas service to the building — so the restaurant could not open for breakfast on Saturday morning. Kelly was working on getting portable heaters into the building; he said reopening the business will depend on restoration of the gas service.

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