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Monday night’s fire in Douglas holds a deep personal cost for local Fire Chief Bill McHale, despite the best efforts of both his team and neighboring crews that evening.
McHale says that the blaze, which burned through the former Douglas Hotel and Tavern location owned and operated by his parents from the early 1970s until it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, eluded efforts to keep it under control, ultimately destroying both the old hotel and the adjoining storefront.
McHale is thankful that both his team and everyone in the building were unharmed. However, the loss stings in particular as he still fondly looks back at his childhood living and supporting the household alongside his sisters as both a hotel in the 1970s and 80s, cleaning up after customers who packed the building most every evening before shifting to tending bar when the family decided to change over to hosting a tavern.
The building would eventually be sold to local auctioneer Dan Peters and Amanda Todd, but McHale says his family and the community adopted them into the village with open arms, embracing their close connection to the iconic landmark.
McHale has been kept busy by multiple calls for service since the start of the week, but he has been trying to dig through an overwhelming response from people who continue to send him their deepest sympathies.
Ultimately, what McHale wants most is for the community to look back fondly on the endless memories that the tavern’s walls would be practically singing if they were still standing.
He also says that Peters and Todd have confirmed that they are planning to eventually rebuild on the site but haven’t decided on what will go up in the tavern’s stead.
(written by Kasey Egan)