Out of the Ashes, Paddock is Rebuilding

On the November night that fire broke out at The Paddock riding and tack center, owner Karen Parkinson was in her kitchen. She remembers seeing the lights flicker and hearing the outlets start to pop. She thought maybe her house was on fire.

It was not the house, but the restored 1930 barn across the yard that has housed her business since 2006. The fire completely gutted two stories of retail space, destroying nearly all of her inventory.

But Parkinson vowed to rebuild. This week, with spring barely a month away, she said her goal is to be open again by April 1.

On the night of the fire, an alarm system had alerted five separate fire companies by the time Parkinson became aware that something was amiss.

“They literally got here in five minutes,” she recalled. “We went down to the barn and I unlocked the door. I went to open it and the fireman said, ‘let me do that.’”

He cracked the door and black smoke poured out. The entire first floor was involved. Firefighters from Preston, Ledyard Center, Gales Ferry, Poquetanuck and Mashantucket responded, battling the blaze into the night.

“The Mashantucket fire company brought a hook and ladder,” Parkinson said. “They were ready to chop a hole in the roof if necessary.”

Fortunately, it was not necessary. Nevertheless, the damage caused by the Nov. 19 fire was extensive. Both lower floors of the barn were completely gutted, and the center’s inventory was almost a total loss.

“We lost 90 percent of our inventory,” including riding boots, helmets, bridles, bits, gloves, jackets, chaps – all of it up in smoke. “Everything except for the saddles,” which were kept in an adjoining building, she said.

And just a month before Christmas.

The ruined inventory and debris from the fire filled seven dumpsters. “It was a very depressing time,” said Parkinson, who first opened The Paddock in Ledyard Center in 1989, and moved it to her 10-acre farm on Rose Hill Road in 1998, where it would become one of the largest tack shops in New England. 

Major investigation

The investigation continued for more than two months, which only added to her stress level. “It was a major investigation,” Parkinson said. “It went on until Jan. 27.”

Eventually, it was ruled an electrical fire by the Preston Fire Marshal Tom Casey. (Although the Parkinson’s live in Ledyard, the Preston-Ledyard line runs between the house and the barn.) 

Parkinson said the building, which had been completely renovated in 2005-06, was well insured. She hired Brian Crandall Carpentry to do the restoration. The Rhode Island-based company had done the original renovation six years ago.

When she contacted Crandall, she said, “he told me he still had it all in his head how to put the place back together.”

Beams, joists, walls and all the flooring needed to be replaced. “This was a very expensive fire,” said Parkinson’s husband, Keith Parkinson, who was away on business on the night of the fire.

But now that new beams are in place, the goal of April 1 is beginning to look pretty good. “Seeing all the progress is making me feel very hopeful,” Karen Parkinson said.

She is hoping to schedule a Grand Re-Opening for sometime in April. “April is one of our biggest months, as people are getting ready for shows in the summer.”

Parkinson said the support she has received from her customers has helped her get through the difficult months.

“It’s a pretty significant group. We cover a lot of area, and the support has been amazing,” she said. “We sent out an e-blast to our customers, and many of them wrote and said ‘we feel so bad for you,’ and ‘we’ll come and help, whatever we can do, we’ll come and stock shelves.’

“That’s the only time I cried,” she said.