An overnight fire has destroyed Clarksville Station at Overlook Farm, an event venue and restaurant in Clarksville, Mo., according to owner Nathalie Pettus. News of the fire, first reported by Pat Eby of Feast Magazine, was posted on Overlook Farm’s Facebook page in the early hours of the morning.
Pettus, who also recently opened Nathalie’s in the Central West End, said she received a call about the fire around 2 a.m. “The thing I was thinking about was two portraits by one of my grandfathers [inside Clarksville Station],” she said, but the blaze consumed the entire complex. Emergency workers are still on the scene, but Pettus said no one was injured. She does not know what caused the fire.
Clarksville’s mayor, Jo Ann Smiley, was with Pettus as firefighters fought the flames. “I stood with Nathalie and watched it burn,” Smiley said. “For a community our size, it’s a devastating blow; for Nathalie, it’s unbelievable.
Pettus insisted that she will rebuild the space in time for the several weddings and events booked at Clarksville Station this spring and summer, including her own son’s wedding. “The Clarksville symbol is an eagle. Mine, right now, will be a phoenix,” she said. “We will rebuild, and it will be even better. There’s no time for tears.”
This article appears in Guide to Beer 2014.