The Plaza Auction

It’s an inglorious end to what was one of the area’s finest restaurants for 10 years.

The remains of the Plaza Restaurant & Club at 200 S. First St. in Rogers are scheduled for interment on the steps of the Benton County Courthouse, maybe as early as this month.

The building is being sold to settle debts that were left unpaid when the restaurant closed May 12, the day after Mother’s Day.

The owners, Art and Nancy March, owe more than $700,000 in loans that were made to the restaurant after they bought the building in October 1995 and moved the business there. The couple, through the corporate name of The Berkshire Group, had a $465,446 mortgage on the building with First National Bank & Trust of Rogers and a $282,000 loan from the federal Small Business Administration.

The building had been scheduled for auction Dec. 23 but it was delayed after officials with the SBA asked for an extension to give them time to evaluate the property.