Sean Neves, co-owner of Water Witch and Bar Nohm in Salt Lake City, said he first heard about the fire burning through businesses on the 300 South block of Main Street Monday night, before the flames were extinguished.
Learning about the inferno through social media, he was “just absolutely shocked” to hear about the disaster that would lead to the destruction of Whiskey Street, White Horse, Los Tapatios and London Belle. This, he said was “every bar or restaurant owner’s nightmare.”
The day after the fire — as patrons, workers and owners of the businesses gathered and gawked at the fenced-off, burnt remains of their buildings — Salt Lake’s Downtown Alliance launched a fundraising effort to help the estimated 200 employees whose livelihoods had been lost with the buildings through the Main Street Fire Employee Assistance Fund. As of Saturday at about 3:30 p.m., its website showed the fund had reached $112,000 of its $500,000 goal.
Neves and several his fellow Salt Lake business owners have resolved to help in the efforts.
Bar crawl with a purpose
On Monday, nine locations plan to participate in a bar crawl to help raise money for those roughly 200 employees.
Already, Neves said eight bars and a market deli have decided to participate:
At a minimum, he said businesses need to have QR codes where people can donate and some sort of special menu offering, from which the proceeds will be donated.
Given the idea just originated on Thursday, Neves said he’s confident other locations will join in.
He said the event will run concurrently among the businesses.
A Bar Nohm Instagram post advertising the fundraiser says there will be special events at the Thieves Guild Cidery, Bar X, Beer Bar and Melancholy, and Neves said The Green Room will also have “a pretty active schedule.”
Guests can also buy raffle tickets to win gift cards or merchandise donated by businesses that couldn’t participate, he added, saying people can even win tickets for Wednesday night’s Pantera concert in West Valley City.
The close community among Salt Lake bar and restaurant owners
Neves hopes the bar crawl will spur a series of similar events, keeping in mind the long-term impacts the fire will have.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bar Nohm’s owners Scott Gardner, Chef David Chon and Sean Neves, from left, outside their newly opened space on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
“There’s a tendency, when something like this happens, for everybody to send out their hearts and prayers, and then forget about it in a week,” he said. “We’re talking more than 200 food and beverage professionals without jobs for an unknown amount of time.”
Helping them, he thinks, will take “a tremendous amount of support.”
In Salt Lake City, he said he’s found a unique, close camaraderie among business owners who share the market, something he attributed to a “small town vibe” and a shared “chip on our shoulder.”
In other places, he explained they hear the same chirps — “’Oh, people have drinks in Salt Lake?’” or “’How many moms do you have?’” — and they want to see the city recognized for its “many great bars and restaurants and other great things.”
Staff, he said, also often move between different bars and restaurants, further tightening the community.
“We literally are mourning the loss of these establishments,” he said. “But we’re also really hopeful that they’re able to build back stronger.”
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