New life for a familiar corner

Feistner family purchases former Legion, Foothills Repair properties as business grows

By Kristi Hine, True Dakotan; published August 5, 2026, reprinted with permission

A growing area business has found room to grow, and in the process will bring new activity to a familiar corner of Wessington Springs, SD.

The Feistner family, owners of Feistner Excavation and Gravel, closed July 29 on the former Willman-Fee Post No. 14 American Legion building, where they plan to establish the company’s new office, storage and operations headquarters.

The family also purchased the neighboring Foothills Repair property across Dakota Avenue and will lease the shop back to owner Doug Flowers, allowing the longtime business to continue operating at its current location.

For brothers Brian and Michael Feistner and their wives, Jennifer and Jen, the purchases come as Feistner Excavation and Gravel continues to expand.

“We’ve been really growing in the past several years,” Jennifer said. “This last year we started going into doing some general contracting, so not just working as a subcontractor, and that has opened up some new opportunities for us.”

The company currently operates its office out of the Feistners’ home. Brian said dedicated office space will provide a more professional setting for pre-construction conferences and meetings with customers.

Feistner Excavation and Gravel handles a wide range of work, including pipe installation, dirt work and demolition.

“A lot of people don’t do that, so that helps too,” Brian said. “It gives us a lot more opportunities.”

The former Legion building will also provide needed storage for equipment, supplies, signs and materials currently kept in several locations.

“I have them all over my farm right now,” Brian said.

Plans include adding a 14-foot overhead door on the north side of the building.

“We can bring them in here and get them all in one spot, organize them and have a staging area for the jobs we are on,” Brian said.

The family also plans to construct office space inside the building, with work and other improvements expected to begin this fall.

A building with a different future

For decades, the Willman-Fee Post No. 14 American Legion building was a gathering place “up on the hill.” Financial difficulties eventually led the property into foreclosure proceedings tied to a Small Business Administration loan.

The SBA offered the property at public auction Sept. 10, 2025, but did not accept an offer. The building has remained vacant since.

“The current state looks quite a bit different than it was when it was a restaurant,” Jen said. “Lots of the insides had already been removed before we purchased it.”

For the Feistners, the open space and location work well.

“Our gravel pit is here. Our trucks come through all the time,” Michael said. “It just makes sense for it to be here.”

One purchase leads to another

The Feistners didn’t initially set out to purchase the former Legion property.

Their search for shop and storage space first took them across the street to Foothills Repair, where Flowers was considering moving his operation. When those plans fell through, the Feistners began looking at the vacant Legion building.

As conversations continued, the Feistners decided to purchase the Foothills Repair property as well and lease the shop back to Flowers.

The building has additional space that could potentially serve as showroom, retail, spa/salon or office space, and the family hopes to find additional tenants.

“We hope to find a way to keep that building active in the Springs area,” Jen said. “And how nice, too, to kind of bring that corner back to life.”