Forepaugh’s Restaurant, the St. Paul dining institution housed in an 1870 Victorian mansion, has shuttered.

The multi-story fine dining restaurant with several dining rooms closed over the weekend.

Owner Bruce Taher said the reason for the closing was a combination of factors.

“Our revenue continued to shrink year after year and some of the minimum wage activity has really pushed up the cost,” he said. “It’s difficult to do these things. You can do everything right — good food, great staff — but when the revenue shrinks and fine dining restaurants have trouble attracting as many people, it’s hard. We have wonderful clientele and staff, but it was just really a financial decision.”

The restaurant, named after the original owner of the home, Joseph Forepaugh, opened in 1976 after a private company purchased the property located on Exchange Street, just off West Seventh Street, by Irvine Park. In 2007, Taher took over the space and has run a fine dining concept there for more than a decade.

In February, chef Kyle Bell died suddenly at age 32 after a bout with the flu. Bell had been the chef at Forepaugh’s for the past five years.

“I think part of our closing probably tied to that. And our revenues were down, so we thought maybe it was a good time to just stop,” Taher said.

“Kyle was not just good at what he did, but he was also the heart and soul of the kitchen. His death just took the wind out of everybody’s sails,” Taher said. “He was young and had two young children. … It’s really been difficult and emotional for everyone.”

Forepaugh’s employees will be moved to jobs at other Taher Inc. properties, the hospitality company Taher runs that operates in 21 states and includes 50 food service operations throughout Minnesota.

“Our organization is fortunately strong enough that we’re going to relocate staff to different locations,” he said. “They won’t lose their jobs or their benefits.”

As far as the Forepaugh’s space, Taher said the building is in good shape and he may lease or sell the space to another restaurateur.

Meanwhile, Forepaugh’s staff spent Tuesday breaking the news to customers.

“We want to thank the corporations, companies, families, singles, couples that have come and were good customers of Forepaughs’s,” the restaurant’s voicemail message says. “We’re going to miss you all. You were like a family to us.”