Little Nashville Opry Destroyed by Fire

The Little Nashville Opry, the country music hall in Nashville, Indiana, was destroyed by fire last night, Saturday, September 19, 2009. The fire broke out just after 10:30PM and the building was fully engulfed in flames within minutes. Brown County firemen were assisted by units from Bloomington, Columbus, and Columbus and Harrison Townships, two units on the Brown County side of Bartholomew County. According to the Brown County Democrat website, most of the flames were out by 11:39PM but the back side of the building still had hot spots at 1:30AM Sunday morning. The site also reports that there was no audience in the building at the time of the fire.

The timing was fortunate. The Little Nashville Opry normally has only one show on Saturday night that starts at 7PM. A two hour show that ends about 9PM should have the building empty of audience members within thirty minutes and staff should be out shortly after that. The 2009 Little Nashville Opry schedule has two dates in October that offer performances at 9PM, in addition to an earlier show at 6PM. Friday night shows at The Opry feature The Little Nashville Express and guest talent and start at 8PM. Had the fire broke out on a Friday night or one of the Saturday nights when two shows were scheduled, the consequences could have been disastrous.

The building that housed The Little Nashville Opry was a wooden structure built as a sawmill and later used as a horse arena. Four couple from Brown County had the fore site to turn the property into a venue for country music and it wasn't long before The Little Nashville Opry became a travel destination for thousands of country music fans. Cal Smith and Mickey Gilley were the first to perform on the Opry stage in 1975 and have been followed by some of the biggest names in country music. Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Reba McIntire, Sawyer Brown, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Travis Tritt, and Diamond Rio are just a few of the performers who have brought their music to The Little Nashville Opry. Less well known are the talented hopefuls that take part in the yearly talent contest, scheduled this year for October 18.

The Little Nashville Opry has been a local institution for over thirty-four years. Let's hope that owners Esther Hamilton and Jim Bowyer will rebuild and continue the tradition of country music in Brown County.

Sources:
http://www.browncountyindiana.com
/http://www.thelittlenashvilleopry.com/index.cfm