It was a cold October morning when Greg Teselle, owner of Franks House of Rock, made his announcement.

His e-mail announced the official closing on Monday of one of the biggest Des Moines music venues — after only one show at its new location in SouthRidge Mall. It wasn’t a fun decision, he said.

“Based on information from our architect, fire code, building code, financial issues, etc., the team decided [at 6 p.m. on Sunday] to close the doors at this current location,” Teselle said. “Zoning is the first and foremost issue. Without zoning, we can’t occupy the space at all.”

Teselle said he wasn’t made aware that the facility Franks House of Rock occupies was zoned “retail” as opposed to “mass assembly” until the day of the grand reopening on Sept. 25. The group had moved there from another location in SouthRidge Mall when Sears bought the venue’s space in July.

“We were under the assumption that because we were attached to a facility that had been cleared by the Fire Marshal’s office before, we didn’t need to do it again,” Teselle said.

He said the required improvements would cost in excess of $50,000, and include additional exits, bathroom facilities and fire walls, as well as a fire pull system.

Pat Beckerdite, general manager of SouthRidge Mall, said the mall isn’t in charge of enforcing the city codes, but that when a significant construction project is initiated, the plans go through an Iowa architect to ensure they are up to governmental standards.

“We require plans when there is major construction,” Beckerdite said. “We didn’t for Franks because it was a church and we were trying to reduce costs. Had we required those, we would have had someone review them. It didn’t happen in this instance because they didn’t submit a plan … They weren’t building walls, they didn’t put in new doors. They didn’t really change the building, so we didn’t require plans.”

He said he wasn’t aware of the zoning issues, and that mall representatives refer businesses to the names and telephone numbers of the city officials they need when they rent a space in the mall.

Beckerdite said Franks House of Rock has been good for the mall’s business and that he wants to speak with Teselle.

“He’s a nice guy,” Beckerdite said. “That’s why I want to get with him and talk to him and find out what is going on.”

As well as the zoning problem, the partially finished skate park in Frank’s House of Rock was halted when they discovered their insurance doesn’t cover skating. Teselle says it’s disappointing that the insurance they looked into ranged from $20,000 to $250,000 a year.

“A private establishment could do a skate park … way better than corporate Des Moines any day,” he says.

For now, the leadership group for Frank’s House of Rock, which is comprised of two staff members, 40 leaders and hundreds of volunteers, will have a retreat on Nov. 15-17 to decide what to do next.

Teselle said questions will include “Should Franks continue in a new location?” “Should Franks continue at all?” and “Should Franks move to another state?”

Chris Saldanha, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communications, said whatever happens with the venue, he is thankful Franks House of Rock has been there to support his band, local music and the Christian community.

“We just want to thank them for helping us out,” Saldanha said. “If we didn’t have the chance to play there, I don’t think we’d still be a band. They really got us a fan base.”

He’s crossing his fingers, though.

“The last time that it closed down, they bounced back,” he said. “Greg’s not the type of guy whose going to pull the plug. I definitely think we’re going to see another Franks — hopefully sometime soon.”