June 18, 2010
NASHVILLE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - The Little Nashville Opry in Brown County burned to the ground right after a band wrapped up a concert there Saturday night.
Firefighters were called to the venue just after 10 p.m., less than an hour after the band "Goldwing Express" played a concert there, according to published reports from Indianapolis.
A reporter in Brown County tells Indiana's NewsCenter that firefighters fought the blaze for hours, but the building was a total loss. Firefighters were still reporting hot spots on the back side of the building at 1:35 a.m. today, he says.
"I've been to many, many, many shows there... from Johnny Cash to Emmy Lou Harris to Randy Travis to Sawyer Brown...," reminisces Stan Lucas, owner of Red Bud Inn, the next-door motel. "So let's hope they rebuild it. If they don't, the community's gonna suffer. It's down anyway, and we didn't need this."
Lucas says the Little Nashville Opry country music venue has been around for 34 years, and he's been in business for 20 years. He says 75 to 80 percent of his revenue comes from Opry customers, so this loss will affect his livelihood.
The news was a surprise to Tony Rafiei, owner of The Neon Armadillo in Fort Wayne. He equates Nashville's loss to Fort Wayne being robbed of the Old Fort. Rafiei drives by the Fort Wayne landmark everyday, and it reminds him of what it means to live here. Historic landmarks unite and define a community, he says.
"The city is the one who gets hurt and not just the music," he says. If Nashville rebuilds the venue, he said his business would be behind their efforts 100 percent and help in any way possible.
Investigators are working on determining the cause of the blaze. There were no injuries reported.
Firefighters were called to the venue just after 10 p.m., less than an hour after the band "Goldwing Express" played a concert there, according to published reports from Indianapolis.
A reporter in Brown County tells Indiana's NewsCenter that firefighters fought the blaze for hours, but the building was a total loss. Firefighters were still reporting hot spots on the back side of the building at 1:35 a.m. today, he says.
"I've been to many, many, many shows there... from Johnny Cash to Emmy Lou Harris to Randy Travis to Sawyer Brown...," reminisces Stan Lucas, owner of Red Bud Inn, the next-door motel. "So let's hope they rebuild it. If they don't, the community's gonna suffer. It's down anyway, and we didn't need this."
Lucas says the Little Nashville Opry country music venue has been around for 34 years, and he's been in business for 20 years. He says 75 to 80 percent of his revenue comes from Opry customers, so this loss will affect his livelihood.
The news was a surprise to Tony Rafiei, owner of The Neon Armadillo in Fort Wayne. He equates Nashville's loss to Fort Wayne being robbed of the Old Fort. Rafiei drives by the Fort Wayne landmark everyday, and it reminds him of what it means to live here. Historic landmarks unite and define a community, he says.
"The city is the one who gets hurt and not just the music," he says. If Nashville rebuilds the venue, he said his business would be behind their efforts 100 percent and help in any way possible.
Investigators are working on determining the cause of the blaze. There were no injuries reported.
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