By Sabrina Artusa

At around 10:40 p.m. Feb 25, Scott McKinnon, owner of Main Street Pub in Kings Park, received a call that a fire had emerged. He immediately drove to the bar he took over from his father decades before from his home 20 minutes away. Fire was visible above the building. 

“I was driving up and light was coming out of the roof,” McKinnon said. 

According to McKinnon, the fire started outside in an alleyway between the pub and the neighboring Euro Barber Shop. The fire department extinguished it swiftly and with no casualties, but the bar has endured tremendous damage; about 30-40% of the pub that has been in operation for about three decades was severely damaged, Mckinnon estimates. 

“The firefighters did a great job extinguishing the fire but there is a lot of damage from the smoke,” McKinnon said. There is also water damage. 

Evelyn Wood, McKinnon’s partner, said the last week has been “kind of like a rollercoaster.” The fire was devastating; however, at the Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the community showed their support. 

“We are learning emotions we didn’t know we had and just trying to get through each one together,” Wood said. “It has been very overwhelming to [Scott]. This is everything. It has put a roof over his kids’ heads and helped them grow up and go to school and everything.”

The pub’s employees organized a booth on a side street next to the pub. They gave out food and raised money to supplement the income that the 80 employees have now lost. They chatted with regulars and tried to preserve the pub’s presence in the community. 

“It was nice to see the people that we always take care of and we always serve are taking care of us now,” Wood said. The pub’s employees, some who have been working at the pub for decades, are spearheading promotional fundraisers while McKinnon works with insurance companies and the town to navigate rebuilding. 

McKinnon described the bar as an “old-time” institution with regulars who spent “most of their time” there, drinking and talking.

“Regardless if you were an employee or customer, everyone knows everyone, cares for everyone. . . watches each other’s backs, it was just a tight knit place to be in,” Wood said. 

McKinnon, eager to get the bar back up and running, has had to wait for the insurance company to file the damages. He cannot touch or alter anything while this process continues, something McKinnon said is “impossible”.

During Covid, when the bar had to shut down, McKinnon supplemented the loss with his savings and income, ensuring the bar would get through the financial strain of extended closure. 

“All the means I had I had to put into the business,” McKinnon said. Now, he has to navigate town ordinances and insurance dealings before he can get the bar back to the state it was. He approximates the bar will be back in three to four months.

McKinnon said he might consider making some changes when the bar eventually reopens.

Wood started a GoFundMe page to support the bar. The link is https://www.gofundme.com/f/qrqzf3-helping-main-street-pub-recover-from-tragic-fire.