Little Nashville Opry-Fire destroyed the Little Nashville Opry in Brown County Saturday night.
Fire departments from 13 communities surrounded the building, trying to save the landmark venue. But they couldn’t and now, the Opry stands in ruin.
Into the late night and early morning hours, residents and fans arrived, witnessing a tradition they and their parents grew up with collapse in front of them.
“It’s gonna be hard to replace. There’s a lot of memories there,” said Opry fan Kenny Petro.
A band called “Goldwing Express” performed earlier in the evening. Their show started at 7 p.m. and was over around 9:30. By 10:15, the building was in flames and 911 calls were coming into Brown County dispatchers.
“When firefighters arrived, it was already through the roof of the building. It was pretty much fully involved, completely burning,” Imhoff said.
The Brown County Democrat newspaper reported on their Web site that firefighters continued to battle hot spots around 1:30 am. A reporter for the paper said within hours, the inside of the building had been gutted by flames.
The Opry was not only a source of pride and entertainment for Nashville, but also an employer and major tourist attraction.
“They had a lot of great musicians come in and this is part of Brown County and Nashville’s income,” Petro said.
Stanley Lucas, owner of the Red Bud Inn in Nashville, fears what the fire will do to his business.
“My phone will be ringing off tomorrow, a lot of people will be canceling,” Lucas said. “They’ll want refunds, which, um, this is my livelihood.”
Once the fire is out, investigators face the arduous task of searching through the debris and trying to determine how the fire started.
There were no injuries immediately reported from the fire.
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