Liberty Lake Tavern, Arcade Burn
A fire this week wiped out two popular Liberty Lake hangouts.
Liberty Landing Tavern and adjoining Liberty Landing Arcade were destroyed early Wednesday by a fire that started in a shed behind the businesses.
Locals said the neighborhood businesses near the corner of Melkapsi Avenue and Liberty Drive had been fixtures in the lake community since 1910.
“I was out here since I was this high,” said 37-year-old Charisse West, holding her hand at her knees. “I don’t want this to be gone.”
A barking dog woke a woman who lives in a house next to the tavern, and she discovered the fire about 4 a.m. The blaze threatened an apartment that also adjoins the businesses and a home behind the building, and licked at trees overhead.
The woman’s husband and another neighbor used garden hoses to spray water onto the fire hoping to control it until firefighters arrived, but the blaze got away from them.
Flames shot through the roof of the tavern about 20 feet into the air when firefighters pulled up to Liberty Landing. Firefighters fought the blaze for three hours, and confined the damage to the tavern and attic above the arcade.
“They weren’t sure they were going to be able to stop it when they got there,” said Valley Fire Deputy Fire Marshal Eric Olson.
Olson said the fire started in a pile of boxes and beer cans in a shed, but said the cause is still under investigation. He has not ruled whether it was accidental or intentionally set.
The fire destroyed the tavern, and the arcade, housed in the same building, may also have been lost, Olson said. Damage to the building was estimated at $100,000.
Wednesday afternoon, tavern owner Mike Lithgow, who lives in the apartment on the building’s north end, stared silently through the broken front window of a business that just the evening before bustled with customers.
An array of water skis decorated the walls. Five pool cues, left undisturbed by the fire, were racked neatly next to a damp and dirty pool table.
“It was all local people - a fun place,” Lithgow said.
Both businesses were tucked into a neighborhood on the lake’s west side. The tavern saw several different owners, but had closed only two of the past 87 years, said Lithgow, who bought it seven years ago.
Jeri Bache’s arcade and convenience store began as a grocery store. Bache bought it to give kids a place to gather after school.
She used to open the store at noon, and wait for them to stop by on their way home from school to buy candy, soda pop and other snacks, play video games, and shoot pool. Bache offered a different special each day, including free pool on Fridays and discounted hamburgers on Saturdays.
“Today is taco day,” Bache said Wednesday.
Liberty Landing appeared to have left its mark on many.
“Oh Jeri, it’s horrible. Oh my gosh,” a teenaged boy called to Bache as he rode by in a van. “I’ll stop by your house and talk to you later.”
Several other residents of the lake community also stopped to offer their support. A few even donated money, Bache said.
“You okay?” a woman in a white mini-van asked Lithgow. He nodded solemnly.
“Good,” the woman replied.
West brought a pot of fresh coffee, two cups, and many fond memories.
“That was our hangout,” she said. “It definitely will be missed.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo