Still No Word On Future Of Full Throttle Saloon

 

Just for the sake of comparison, imagine Boston without Fenway Park. It would still be Boston, but it wouldn’t be the same without the compact ballpark filled with Red Sox partisans as well as the crowds and vendors on Yawkey Way. Even a life-long New York Yankees’ fan such as myself appreciates the atmosphere and even prefers it to a trip to the Bronx.

Now, if you will, imagine Sturgis, S.D. without the landmark known as the Full Throttle Saloon, a must-visit destination for the tens of thousands of bikers who gather for the rally every August. Will Sturgis be the same without “The World’s Largest Biker Bar”?

Bikers will find out next year because, if you haven’t heard, the Full Throttle Saloon burned to the ground on Sept. 8. Writing in the “Rapid City Journal” three days after the devastating overnight blaze, Jim Holland called the loss of the iconic saloon “a game-changer for Sturgis and the rally.” Damage was estimated at $10 million.

Earlier this week, the cause was ruled to be accidental by the state fire marshal’s office and the ATF National Response Team. Investigators determined that the fire started in the main part of the bar.

Owner Michael Ballard provided more specifics in an AP story. “We had a keg cooler behind the main bar, and (workers) had pulled it out multiple times whether for cleaning or switching kegs out. When they pushed it back, it crinked the power cord and it didn’t break the power cord open so that it would arc and throw a breaker. It heated the cord up and beside the cooler was a cardboard box. The cord caught the box on fire, and that’s what ignited this fire,” he said.

It has been 10 days since the fire and Ballard is still unable to say whether he’ll rebuild the bar.

“I know in my heart I cannot re-create this place,” he said. “It’s impossible to re-create what was here. This place grew organically over 17 years, and every year me putting back into it, and building another building or building another bar area, or buying atmosphere, and bringing in stuff from all four corners of the United States.”

What Ballard created was a watering hole unlike any other. Ed Henderson of Waterbury, CT visited there during the rally in 2013. “It was just an amazing place,” said Henderson (picture above). Not only offering food and drink, it also had musical stages and zip lines, memorabilia and sentimental artifacts.

Ballard said insurance won’t cover the loss. “I’m still digesting everything about rebuilding or what we’re going to do or how we’re going to move forward,” he said this week. “You know, this is just like losing a family member and trying to replace that family member a week from now. You can’t even comprehend having to go down that road.”