By Charlene Tebbutt

Small community of St. Benedict loses local business to fire

Apr 19, 2018 | 5:00 PM

A fire in the small community of St. Benedict this week has destroyed a popular local hotel and bar.

The St. Benedict Hotel burned down Tuesday night. Greg Arsenault, who owns the hotel and bar with an attached living space, said the building was completely destroyed. St. Benedict is located North of Humboldt, just off Highway 20. 

The hotel and bar was a popular spot for residents and visitors to the tiny community of about 80 people. Arsenault has owned and operated the bar for the past four years.

“Lots of people came through the door, that’s for sure,” Arsenault told northeastNOW. “I’m sad and heartbroken, and what do you do? You go on, I guess.”

Humboldt Fire Chief Mike Kwasnica says his department was called out to the fire in St. Benedict just after midnight Tuesday. Nine firefighters responded from Humboldt, he said, along with another nine from the community of Cudworth and three from the Rural Municipality of Three Lakes.

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Kwasnica told northeastNOW the building was a total loss and firefighters then turned their attention to stopping the fire from spreading to the SaskTel communications building next door.

“There really was nothing we could do with the bar itself, other than manage what it was and where it was going,” he said.

A provincial fire investigator is expected to be in St. Benedict Friday to review the scene, Kwasnica said. There’s no word on how the fire started, and Kwasnica said it can be difficult to determine an exact cause when the building is completely destroyed.

Kwasnica grew up in St. Benedict and says the loss of a local gathering spot in the community is difficult.

“All the signs of where the fire started is basically piled under rubble,” he added. “It’s a really big blow for a small community.”

Blake Peters owned the St. Benedict Bar for a couple years in the mid-1990s. He now runs Treehouse Treasures just up the road and said the bar was an older structure made of wood, built in the 1930s. The building had about five hotel rooms available for rent, a two-car attached garage, along with a living space and bar area and was always well maintained. 

“It was a good meeting place for people, we had sent a lot of our customers there,” Peters said.

Arsenault said he isn’t sure yet what he will do following the fire. Once the dust settles, he says there may be an option to reopen in a new location. He said it would likely be too costly to rebuild.

“It’s a lovely area, and the people are great,” Arsenault added. “I have no intention of moving away.”

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt