The building that houses Godfather's Pizza and TJ's Lounge in Great Falls sustained costly damage as a result of an early morning blaze on Tuesday.
TJ's and Godfather's have been owned by the Barbour family for decades.
We spoke with Chris Berg, daughter of owner Paula Barbour and the manager of both TJ's and Godfather's, about the Tuesday morning fire that destroyed much of the business.
Berg said, "I've been in this bar since I was six years old and spent more time here than I've ever spent anywhere in my life. So, a lot of memories with my dad and family and everything...it's pretty tough."
Berg says other bar and casino owners in Great Falls have been very supportive and are already offering to help supply tables, chairs, and anything else needed to get up and running.
She admits it could be a while before TJ's is open again, however, saying, "There's not much in there right now that's really salvageable, and until we get in there it's going to be hard to say what we're going to be able to do at this point. We're going to start cleaning up, grab some brooms and dustpans tomorrow, and see what we can save."
Berg says much of the memorabilia on the interior walls has been destroyed, but she did have one reason to smile: the signed Dave Dickenson jersey hanging near the back door was spared by the fire.
(Tuesday morning) The building that houses Godfather's Pizza and TJ's Lounge in Great Falls sustained costly damage as a result of an early morning blaze.
Fire crews responded shortly after 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning to TJ's Lounge on 10th Avenue South and extinguished the blaze.
Investigators tell us an employee called them after discovering smoke in the building.
Fire Marshall Doug Bennyhoff noted, "From the outside, you can't tell if it's bad or not, but on the inside of the bar, there's extensive damage."
Bennyhoff estimates the damage at between $300,000 and $400,000 in terms of content, and about $100,000 in structural damage.
Most of the damage occurred inside the TJ's portion of the building, but there is some smoke damage on the Godfather's side.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, but the Fire Marshal did tell us that the fire originated in the pool room, near a TV. Bennyhoff also says there are two possible sources: smoking material found near the origin, or extension cords in the area.
