Local bands to play benefit concert at PACC for Templeton pub destroyed by fire

They will be rocking and rolling and raising money in Gardner Friday.

A concert will be held at the Polish American Citizens Club to benefit the staff of the Otter River Hotel, popularly known at the Red Onion Pub, which was destroyed by a fire Sept. 27.

“People care, and this community is tight and they appreciate us – they’ve been supporting us for the last nine months, and they’ve been doing it even more over the last two weeks since the fire,” said Matt P. Black, who purchased the establishment about a year ago.

The Midlife Crisis band, which had been booked to play at the Red Onion months ago, quickly reshuffled its schedule, secured the PACC as a new venue, invited additional musical acts, and agreed to perform a benefit show for Black and his employees.

“It comes at a perfect time to help us, (especially) our employees who stuck with us, even during the three months we were waiting for a liquor license – two full-timers and the rest of the crew who are part-timers – who gave us their availability for shifts and then had to lose that income,” said Black, whose own band, Point the Finger, will also be performing at the show. “We’re going to use some of the initial funds (raised) for some of our business expenses, but primarily to just make sure those employees are all set while they try to figure out what their next steps are.”

Local music community coming together for fundraiser

Chris Woodward, a member of Midlife Crisis, said his band had booked to play the Red Onion Friday, but that after fire officials from the PACC had reached out to see if the band would be interested in using the venue to play a benefit concert.

“As a fellow musician with a band, Matt had made the Red Onion a place for local bands and musicians to come and share their music and connect with people,” Woodward said. “There are not a lot of venues around with a host like Matt who made life music a part of his business. It was important for Midlife Crisis to be a part of giving back to someone who literally gave everything to his business and lost it all in an instant.”

More: Fire guts pub at old Otter River Hotel in Templeton

Additional benefit show planned

Plans for additional benefit shows in the area, including one scheduled for Dec. 8 at the Baldwinville Legion, were also in the works, he said. People could also support the cause by purchasing Red Onion merchandise at the events.

“We’ll be selling what’s left of the surviving merchandise we were able to get out of the building, washed three times to clean it up, so there’s literally fire-survived merchandise for sale,” Black said, adding that apparel was also available via a GoFundMe-style site that is linked to the Red Onion’s Facebook page. “We did not sanction (the site) but we do get a portion of it.”

Black, who lives in Templeton, said he had been approved for a liquor license one week before the blaze. He said he had about eight employees working for him at the time.

Owner grateful customers, firefighters were not harmed

On the night of the fire, a songwriting contest was being held at the pub, Black explained. He said there were about 30 customers and staff inside the Red Onion when smoke was detected. He said he was grateful that everyone managed to get out of the building safely.

“We vacated the building on our own before the fire department arrived, even before the first smoke alarm went off and any visible signs of smoke were found in back,” he said.

Black said he was grateful that no customers, bar staff, or fire officials had been harmed as a result of the massive blaze.

“Take away the financial investment, take away the emotional pain for myself and my staff, take all of that away for a second - the only way this could have been worse is if any of our patrons or if any of the firefighters had been hurt,” he said, adding that he was also grateful that the adjacent properties were not damaged as a result of the fire.

Plan is to open Red Onion pub early next year

Black said his immediate concern was determining whether the historic building at 29 Main St., which was built in 1881, could be saved. Town officials and a private structural engineer agreed that it could, Black said. If so, his plan would be to possibly reopen the Red Onion bar portion of the structure.

“We’re looking at any and all means to get it so the building can be structurally safe and feasible to operate the bar business,” Black said. “My vision is to get this done, find a builder that can put our plans from our engineer into action, get a roof on this sucker before winter, start working on the interior, and try to open sometime early next year.”

Sadly, some of the planned repairs to the building were unlikely to be realized. Work to renovate the building’s second floor ballroom to be used as a function space for the first time in 150 years was in progress when the fire occurred, Black added.

“We had just finished the hardwood floors, we had the paneling on the walls, and we were just waiting for the town to come in and tell us what to do to complete the renovations so it could be offered to the public,” he explained. “We had an outpouring of interest in using the space for everything from functions, cornhole, charity events – that was our goal.”

Fire investigators have not yet determined a cause of the fire, but said it appeared to be accidental, Black explained.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Midlife Crisis band headlining benefit concert for River Otter Hotel