Fire at the City

[pintrader]

Considering they are going to open tomorrow they better be fast.

[History Buff]

Sometimes they get so focused on sharks, they forget about the Bald Knobbers.

[sdcfan88]

Sometimes they get so focused on sharks, they forget about the Bald Knobbers.

Indeed sad to see but it is horribly fitting considering Fire In The Hole is a short walk from where this happened. Maybe they will tie this event into the new ride. lol

[Pudgy Jones]

Lots of thoughts swirling through my head this morning:

1. I hope they rebuild the furniture shop, but as we've watched crafts become less-and-less prominent in our beloved city, I'm concerned.
2. This is deep in the heart of "old" SDC. I hope that they take great pains in the rebuild to keep the atmosphere of that area. Again, I'm concerned.
3. There are a lot of big, beautiful trees in this vicinity that were likely damaged and will have to come down. The loss of shade in this area will change the atmosphere.
4. I'm very, very grateful that no one was hurt (sorry...this should have been point #1).
5. It could have been so much worse. Thank you to the quick reaction of the citizens and first responders.

[Okiebenz]

Yes, with the decreasing focus on crafts, I would not be surprised if they do not do something completely different with that area.  I would be very shocked if the furniture stuff returns.

[Old Guy]

I'm not sure it can. That lineshaft equipment was 100 years old and hard to find. If there is a way to salvage the equipment, they will rebuild it. The average wait time on custom furniture from there was 6 months. It was a profitable business. This doesn't mean it won't relocate to another area, however.

[shavethewhales]

^Even if they could salvage the equipment, they wouldn't. They'll buy new equipment and put up some wood paneling to make it look "old". The days of SDC going to extra lengths to keep authentic craftsmanship and the old fashioned theme of the park in tact are long gone. Part of it is a culture shift - people just don't care that much and won't notice the effort anyway. Part of it is the fact that there aren't many people left around who would even know where to begin putting something like that back together.

I'm surprised they sold that much furniture. Most people weren't even aware they had a furniture shop or workshop demonstration area. It's been years since I stopped by to even see if they still did demonstrations.

[MCLFLN]

Honestly, if there was an easier way to get it back to Illinois I would have purchased some.

^Even if they could salvage the equipment, they wouldn't. They'll buy new equipment and put up some wood paneling to make it look "old". The days of SDC going to extra lengths to keep authentic craftsmanship and the old fashioned theme of the park in tact are long gone. Part of it is a culture shift - people just don't care that much and won't notice the effort anyway. Part of it is the fact that there aren't many people left around who would even know where to begin putting something like that back together.

I'm surprised they sold that much furniture. Most people weren't even aware they had a furniture shop or workshop demonstration area. It's been years since I stopped by to even see if they still did demonstrations.

[KBCraig]

They should have just formed a bucket brigade and used some wet burlap sacks. It works at SOTH!

Seriously, though, this is a terrible blow to the "old" city.

Honestly, if there was an easier way to get it back to Illinois I would have purchased some.

The furniture, and most of the larger woodcarved crafts, fall into the realm of, "If you can afford it, you can afford to ship it."

[MCLFLN]

 I don't think they really shipped out of the local area but I could be wrong

They should have just formed a bucket brigade and used some wet burlap sacks. It works at SOTH!

Seriously, though, this is a terrible blow to the "old" city.

Honestly, if there was an easier way to get it back to Illinois I would have purchased some.

The furniture, and most of the larger woodcarved crafts, fall into the realm of, "If you can afford it, you can afford to ship it."

[biscuitcreek]

I was there. Walked out of hospitality house bathroom behind the taffy shop at 12:45. Was walking toward the homestead cabin when the smoke just shot up and started billowing toward the square. At first we were all asked to move to the blacksmith side of the park and it was jammed packed people to the footbridge waiting for the chain drop. We stood over there for over 10 minutes and watched the smoke get worse. My husband who has been a volunteer firefighter in our rural area for many years was getting concerned.

Then we were asked to go to the square to make way for emergency equipment.  When we got up to the square SDC employees told us to keep on walking toward the entrance and evacuate the park. Fortunately people were calm but it was crowded in the hospitality house. Some folks were trying to stop and shop in both the hospitality house and the Ozarks Marketplace. Employees kept saying to leave the building.

We were able to get on the 2nd tram out. The employee on the back of the tram kept apologizing and repeating to call guest relations at a later time about refunds or handling the grocery store tickets.

But there was no plan to get vehicles out of the parking lots. No one was directing traffic out of the lots. We were parked 2 rows from the stop 2 gazebo and had parked facing the exit and able to pull forward to get out. Took us over 25 minutes to get to 76. When we got to the light there were 3 deputies but traffic was still still turning in on Indian Point Road. The least amount of traffic was in the left lane to turn toward Branson West so we got in that lane to leave and get out of the area.

If something like this happens again, there needs to be a plan to get vehicles out of the lots. SDC employees need to direct traffic or sheriff's deputies need to do so.

People were trying to be courteous and let other vehicles in line but it just kept slowing down plus some folks just plowed their way into the line.  Wouldn't be surprised if there were some fender benders.

SDC employees did a great job of evacuating the park but it could have been terrible if the fire had spread across the parking lots because people would have been trapped.

[Gilligan]

I ordered furniture from Heartland last year, and yes, it did take six months to get it. 

As far as rebuild, local tv stations today reported "Silver Dollar City does plan to rebuild and will be announcing what will take the place of those three buildings at a later date."

[theymitbgi]

When we went in May and were dreaming about a bedroom set from there, we asked about shipping to Alton, Il.  They said they do it.  They will wait to try and arrange enough stops in a given area, but they will deliver.  Obviously for a fee.

I don't think they really shipped out of the local area but I could be wrong

They should have just formed a bucket brigade and used some wet burlap sacks. It works at SOTH!

Seriously, though, this is a terrible blow to the "old" city.

Honestly, if there was an easier way to get it back to Illinois I would have purchased some.

The furniture, and most of the larger woodcarved crafts, fall into the realm of, "If you can afford it, you can afford to ship it."

[Coaster]

Really sad about this and what a loss for the old charm of the City. I hope they rebuild as close to the original as they can, but I'm expecting some large changes in order to help with crowding and traffic flow.

[Swoosh]

I ordered furniture from Heartland last year, and yes, it did take six months to get it. 

As far as rebuild, local tv stations today reported "Silver Dollar City does plan to rebuild and will be announcing what will take the place of those three buildings at a later date."

It’ll be more than just those 3 buildings.  Duplicating Lathe and Cowboy Jepps are losses as well.