The Atlanta Shakespeare Company is in recovery mode after a fire at the Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Street in Midtown.
On Aug. 20 just after 2:30 a.m., the company’s artistic director, Jeff Watkins, got a call that the Tavern was on fire. Someone had poured lighter fluid down a maildrop and ignited a fire in the building’s mailroom.
While sprinklers put out the small fire quickly, the water damage was extensive. The sprinklers ran for 30 minutes before the Atlanta Fire Department could shut them down, causing extensive damage to production spaces and offices, the costume shop, and flooding in the bar area.
The hundreds of gallons of water made its way through the lobby and into the pit under the stage causing even more damage, Watkins said.
“We are working with a ‘mitigation specialist’ assigned by our insurance company,” Watkins said in an email. “And to be clear, it does appear that insurance will cover a great deal of the damage. That said, it’s just as clear that we will be on the hook for a good deal more than just our deductible.”
Watkins described the damage as “like a tornado came through with water saturating walls, ceilings, carpets, desks, computers, mechanical systems… hundreds of yards of fabric and more. It’s crazy how much damage can occur in less than an hour. But there it is.”
The company has started an arson recovery fund and is asking that any donation large or small be made at https://www.shakespearetavern.com/support/arson.
Watkins said fire and police officials are investigating the arson, and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company would continue on with its productions.