‘This is my life’s work’: Beatrice restaurant owners vow to rebuild after destructive fire
BEATRICE, Neb. (KLKN) – The owners of a beloved Beatrice restaurant are determined to rebuild after a devastating fire.
On the morning of Jan. 3, Kate Ratigan said she got a call from the city, telling her that the Black Crow Restaurant was engulfed in flames.
She felt “a sinking feeling” in the pit of her stomach when she heard the news.
“The worst thing, as a restaurant owner, that you can imagine hearing,” she said.
Ratigan and her husband rushed to their restaurant, which had been open for more than 30 years.
By the time they got there, the flames were gone, but the damage had already been done.
And when the smoke cleared, she saw what was left behind.
“It was very shocking, I would say,” Ratigan said. “Shocking. And I would say it didn’t even seem real. Walking through here every time, I just haven’t quite absorbed the reality of it.”
The walls were once cream-colored, but now they’re black and covered in soot.
Plates and glasses are filled with ash, sitting at empty tables.
And instead of the scent of good food, all you can smell in the building is smoke.
“This is my life’s work and my husband’s life’s work,” Ratigan said. “For 18 hours a day, for many, many years, we’ve been here. So it’s a blow to have that go up in smoke.”
Officials don’t yet know what sparked the blaze. Ratigan said it started in the banquet room.
But despite the setback, she said this won’t be the last you see of the Black Crow.
She and her husband have put on gloves and masks and are digging through the debris. And all the while, they’re envisioning a time when people will once again fill the tables of their restaurant.
“I don’t want to go out on this kind of a note after being successful and having a lovely place for all of those years,” Ratigan said. “I want to put it back.”
She said the community outreach has helped her stay positive.
Ratigan said people have been reaching out to tell her memories that they made in the Black Crow.
Now, she’s vowing to make more memories in the future.
