The owner of a beloved bar and grill in tiny Peabody says she hopes to rebuild her 46-year-old business, which was destroyed by a weekend fire.
But on Monday morning — a little more than 24 hours after the fire broke out at Coneburg Grill and Pub, 904 Peabody St. — Lindsey Marshall said she can’t yet imagine what that would look like.
“Thinking about it and having the images in my mind…it will never be the same,” she said, choking back tears. “I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
Marshall, a Peabody native who has owned the business since 2011, says she was asleep at home early Sunday morning when the restaurant’s alarm system was triggered. She woke up to news that the restaurant was on fire. The Peabody Fire department responded, and when the fire was finally out, Marshall said, she was shocked by the devastation.
The fire, which officials told Marshall likely started at the stove, caused the building’s ceiling to cave in, and it completely destroyed the kitchen.
“There’s no kitchen left — my kitchen where I made my magic happen,” Marshall said. “Some of the best chefs in Kansas have cooked in that kitchen.”
Though the insurance adjuster has not visited yet, Marshall said she’d guess the building is a total loss. No one was injured in the fire.
A “self-proclaimed dive bar,” the Coneburg operated out of a red metal building in the shadow of the Peabody water tower. The word “EAT” is painted on the side of the building in big white letters.
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Inside, the restaurant had a big open dining room that featured a long bar, standard tables, chairs and booths, strands of glowing lights and a cozy fireplace.
It was one of only two restaurants in tiny Peabody, which has a population of around 920 people and sits 43 miles northeast of Wichita. The business is known for its menu of made-from-scratch comfort food dishes, Marshall said, and its chicken fried steaks, Reuben sandwiches and burgers were among its best sellers. )It was also one of those special places Kansans could find “mountain oysters.”)
The Coneburg was a popular destination for people from Harvey and Marion counties, and it also was frequented by people from Wichita. Marshall would often book well-known independent musical acts — like Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy, Pretend Friend, and Wayne Gottstine — and the business would turn into a gathering spot for the Kansas music community, she said.
The Coneburg was founded in 1978 by Peabody native Shirley Strotkamp, who died in 2015 at age 79. When she decided to stop running what she called The Coneburg Inn, she leased it out to other operators. But in 2011, she sold the business and the building to Marshall.
Marshall said she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Shirley since the fire.
Coneburg Grill and Pub was founded in 1978 by the late Shirley Strotkamp, who called it Coneburg Inn.
“When I got it from her, I promised her I would take care of it,” Marshall said on Monday. “That’s been haunting me.”
Though the fire happened only recently, Marshall said, she’s been overwhelmed by an outpouring of support from the community for the business and for its 10 or so employees. More than one fundraising effort has been set up so far, including a GoFundMe account designed to help support the businesses’ employees through the holidays. Marshall also set up an account through Vintage Bank Kansas that anyone can donate to if they want to help the Coneburg with recovery.
“I’m telling you: My phone hasn’t stopped going off since yesterday at 7 a.m.,” Marshall said on Monday. “It’s nothing but support.”
Though the idea of rebuilding seems so daunting at the moment, Marshall said, the fire has made her realize how much she loves the Coneburg. It’s part of her, she says, and she doesn’t want to give up on it.
She was touched by one longtime customer who urged her not to let the enormity of the loss get her down and to remember that the whole community was supporting her. He implored her to give it one more go.
“It’s a community gathering spot,” Marshall said. “You walk in there and you feel like family. You know everybody.”
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