News Photo By Steve Schulwitz An Alpena firefighter and Sports Page Lounge owner Brain Peterson walk across debris so Peterson can get a close-up view of the damage from a fire on Wednesday. The bar and several other businesses were totally destroyed.

ALPENA — Chisholm Street business owners who faced the loss of their properties in a fire on Wednesday expressed that they felt shock at the destruction and acknowledged the compassion shown by the Alpena community.

The Alpena Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire at 3:26 p.m on Wednesday in the 800 block on Chisholm Street in Alpena. They remained on scene until 9:45 p.m.

Three businesses–Sports Page Lounge, The Pampered Paw, and Lucky Rabbit Tattoo–and two apartments were lost in the fire. John Boy’s Restaurant survived with smoke and water damage.

“I was on my way there, my staff told me it was on fire,” Brian Peterson, owner of the Sports Page, said. “We believed it was just the building next door, they would put that out and we could continue on.”

Peterson said he does not know what the future looks like yet and said that there is a lot to sort out.

“It’s smashed into a pile on the ground,” he said. “You can’t rebuild a 100 year old bar, there was a lot more lost than just a building. This is just a huge loss for everyone.”

Peterson bought the Sports Page from a family that had owned it for 40 years.

“I didn’t buy the Sports Page just to buy a bar, I bought the Sports Page because I wanted to own the Sports Page,” Peterson said. “It wasn’t just a money grab, it was about a community.”

“Investing in this portion of the community was important to us,” Peterson’s wife, Ashley, said.

Peterson also owns Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe and The Old Polish Corner.

Anne Gentry, executive director of the Alpena Downtown Development Authority (DDA), said that the businesses affected by the fire were one of the highlights in that stretch of town.

“It was one of the most intact parts of our expansion area on Chisholm.” she said. “It’s going to be really hard to rebuild that feeling down there.”

Gentry said she has been in contact with some community partners to see what can be done to help the businesses out in the interim.

“Once the dust has settled a little bit, we’ll be getting in touch with the different owners and see what they are thinking and connect them with resources,” Gentry said.

Gentry explained that the DDA will try and help with recovery for whatever that looks like for each business and property.

“A lot of people reached out to us to ask what they can do to help,” Gentry said. “It’s very heartwarming.”

Danielle Fenstermaker, manager of John Boy’s Restaurant for the past 20 years, said that her husband’s brother called asking if John Boy’s was on fire shortly after 3 p.m. She checked the surveillance cameras at the place and saw smoke. She immediately drove into town, she said.

“When we got there it was a madhouse,” Fenstermaker said.

She said it was difficult to tell whether John Boy’s had caught on fire or not due to the amount of smoke obstructing the restaurant. It was a long day waiting to see what damage the restaurant would sustain, if any.

Fenstermaker said she was able to enter the restaurant Wednesday night with the fire marshal.

“The power was cut so I couldn’t see much,” she said. “I thought it was going to be more smoke filled than it was.”

Fenstermaker said there is likely some smoke and structural damage that can’t be seen on the outside.

“I know there’s water damage, there’s water inside,” she said. “There’s a nice crack all the way across the dining room ceiling. I think it’s going to be a long road.”

Fenstermaker expressed her gratitude for the firefighters.

“I do want to make sure the firefighters get many thanks, we’re very sorry for everyone that was involved,” she said. “It was so hard to watch…It’s just a mess right now.”

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.