Owners of Waterville Store overwhelmed by support, have plans to rebuild from early October 10 blaze


Fire burned through the Waterville Store on Main Street in Waterville during the early morning hours of Saturday, October 10, leaving owners Matt and Chris Rathbun awaiting declaration on the soundness of the remaining structure. Regardless of that declaration, the Rathbuns say they have plans to rebuild the Waterville Store and look forward to "serving the town of Waterville and surrounding area again very soon." Standard photo by Bob Beach.

by Kelli Boylen

Matt and Chris Rathbun are not sure of the timeline, but one thing they are sure of is that they are going to rebuild the Waterville Store.
The night of October 9 was a typically busy Friday night for Matt and Chris up until they closed about 2 a.m. In the early morning hours of Saturday, October 10, just a couple hours after that closing, a Waterville resident on his way to work noticed smoke coming from the local bar and grill at about 4:40 a.m. and banged on the door where Matt and Chris reside, waking them up so they could then call 9-1-1.
There was thick black smoke at first, and about the time the first fire trucks arrived flames could be seen. The Waterville Fire Department immediately called for mutual aid from Harpers Ferry and Waukon Fire Departments.
Watching their business go up in flames was devastating for the Rathbuns. The structure had a metal roof, which kept a lot of the heat from the fire inside, but also made it more difficult for firefighters to fight the flames. A telescopic handler was borrowed from a nearby dairy farm so they were able to dismantle the roof in some places in order to better fight the fire that way.
“The firefighters did a great job,” Matt said. “The neighboring building is my uncle’s house and they had just put on new siding and it didn’t melt.”
About 30 firefighters from the three departments helped to contain the blaze. They were on scene until about 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The cause of the fire was later determined to be electrical and started in a front room where the family stayed and slept in on weekends the first year they owned the bar.
Chris said, “It was unbelievable the amount of support we received and the people who came to help us through it.” The Rathbuns said that since the fire they have had a humbling amount of people come forward to offer help and support.
Despite the best efforts of the three local fire departments, the inside of the building was determined to be a complete loss. Much of the exterior structure is still standing, but it is likely to be declared structurally unsound. That declaration needs to be officially made before the Rathbuns can move forward with their plans. “We definitely have plans to rebuild,” Matt said. “The sooner, the better.”
Matt and Chris purchased the Waterville Store in February of 2013. They spent much of March remodeling the building, and opened for business in April of that year. During the remodel they enlarged the bar, added some freezers and rearranged the kitchen, took out a wall and made some general updates and painted.
They purchased the building from Matt’s stepmother, Sue Rathbun. She had run the bar for several years and it was closed for about a year and a half before Matt and Chris purchased it. Prior to that, Waterville resident Bob Schlitter and his family operated a store and grill there, and even earlier it was a small grocery store.
In the 1950s, Matt’s grandparents, Ed and Betty White, owned and operated a DX gas station and repair shop there.  “It feels horrible to lose that history,” he said.
Matt, who had previously worked for Waukon Feed Ranch operating gilt barns, has always enjoyed  cooking. Purchasing the Waterville Store gave him the opportunity to do that. Although he says he has no formal schooling in culinary arts, he said he has many wonderful role models in his family that have taught him a lot.
The Waterville Store offered a full grill menu, fried foods, homemade pizzas and specials during the weekend, with fish specials offered Fridays and prime rib Saturdays.
Although the weekend of the fire was pretty much a “big blur” for the Rathbuns, the kindness of others has been quite clear since then. “We really want to thank our families and friends, along with the fire departments and sheriff’s department,” Chris said. Matt and Chris’s family includes Tyler, Olivia, Joseph (Katie Rogers), and Brittny (Kyle) Dreckman.
“We are looking forward to serving the town of Waterville and surrounding area again very soon,” the Rathbuns said.