The Machine Shed Restaurant – across the Interstate from Woodbury in Lake Elmo –  closed Wednesday after 24 years. The location was one of six in the Midwest, offering homestyle food and farm-to-table cooking from scratch. 

A sign taped to the front door states: “Unfortunately, the Machine Shed has permanently closed its doors… We’d like to thank all of our patrons for your support throughout the years.”

A spokeswoman said the restaurant is preparing for an extensive renovation and remodel. “At this time, we are unable to share details about our future plans for the space,” Lesley Uehran, marketing director for Heart of America Group, said. She added that the adjacent Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites remains open.

Located near I-94 and Inwood Avenue North, the Machine Shed was the meeting place for civic groups including the Woodbury Rotary over the years. The restaurant could serve nearly 400 people.

“Big. That’s the word for Machine Shed, the Iowa-based farm-themed chain restaurant, which opened last week in Lake Elmo,” an article in the Pioneer Press stated in March 2001. “The expansive space, deep booths and array of signs and farm implements covering the walls pair perfectly with the vast menu of all-American favorites.”

The first Machine Shed opened in Iowa in 1978. The remaining locations in Appleton, Wis., Davenport, Iowa, Pewaukee, Wis., Rockford, Ill., and Urbandale, Iowa will stay open.