“The Dutchman was like a cornerstone to this community,” Schroeder said. “It’s a huge loss. I never thought it would actually happen.”
Dutchman Hospitality Group, the owners of Der Dutchman since 1999, announced Saturday they would not reopen the restaurant following an Oct. 13 kitchen fire that caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage to the structure.
“I’m in shock,” said Waynesville Mayor Earl Isaacs, who is attempting to contact state officials to see if anything can be done to save the cherished restaurant.
“I think the Dutchman was as popular as the Golden Lamb and a destination in Waynesville,” Isaacs said. “People all around the country knew about the Dutchman even if they’d never heard of Waynesville. It played a big part in building our local economy.”
Isaacs said he was also concerned about the loss of jobs created by both the closing of Dutchman and the adjacent Carlisle Gifts and Furniture, also owned by Dutchman Hospitality. The store will be closing in December, Dutchman Hospitality announced.
“The decision to discontinue our business in Waynesville has been difficult but necessary,” said Dutchman president Mike Palmer. “It has been a long, agonizing six weeks as the Dutchman Hospitality board members and I worked with the insurance company, investigators and building contractors to make a decision on the future of our Waynesville operations... We realize that discontinuing our business efforts in Waynesville will affect many lives in many ways and regret that this business decision was necessary.”
The fire, which reportedly was started by a malfunctioning chicken roaster, broke out while patrons were eating breakfast. Witnesses reported seeing flames shooting 50 feet into the air. Approximately 50 people were in the restaurant at the time of the fire, but all escaped without injury.
Village manager Bruce Snell said the village would lose a projected $10,000 in income tax revenue a year.
“It’s not a significant financial hit, but the loss is considerable to the tourism and people who have lost jobs,” Snell said. “We were on a first name basis with many of their employees and hate to see them hurt.”
The first restaurant to operate on the Dutchman site was called 1776 , a small family-style operation that Bill and Helen Lemey opened in 1973. In 1987, Pam and Dale Bowman and Dale’s father Woody purchased the restaurant, renaming it Der Dutchler. The Bowman’s achieved great success, moving Der Dutchler into the larger building that housed Der Dutchman until the October fire sounded the restaurant’s death knell.
Dale Bowman, who now runs the Hammel House Inn and Gift Shop, was saddened by the closing of the restaurant his family built, but did not blame the present owners.
“It has a lot of sentimental value to me,” Bowman said. “My family grew up with Der Dutchler. I hate to see it close, but the owners have to do what they have to do.”
Bowman said several people had asked if he’d consider reopening the restaurant.
“Unless somebody approached me with the money necessary to run it, my answer would have to be no,” Bowman said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
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