Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022

  • Sponsors
    • Sponsor News
    • Become a sponsor
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Fayetteville Flyer

  • Home
  • Local News
    • City Hall
    • City Council Recaps
    • Public Calendar
    • Trail News
  • State, Nation & World
    • State News
    • National & World
  • Arts & Events
    • Weekly Calendar
  • Food & Drink
  • Columns & Features
    • Music Reviews
    • Theatre Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trail Tours
    • Giveaways
    • Recipes
  • Sports
  • Sections
    • Local News
    • State, Nation & World
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts & Events
    • Columns & Features
    • Sports
  • Calendar
  • Newsletter
  • Real Estate
    • Fayetteville Homes
    • All NWA Homes
    • Find an Agent
  • Photos
  • Shop
  • Movie Listings
    • AMC Fiesta Square
    • Malco Razorback Cinema
    • 112 Drive-In
  • Sponsors
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID Info

Locals, regulars helping to reopen ROTC

  • By Dustin Bartholomew · Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 

After a fire damaged ROTC Grill on Dec. 22, the future of the longtime Fayetteville restaurant was in serious question.

But now, thanks to an outpouring of support from the community, ROTC is well on its way to reopening for business.

Employees, both past and present, as well as several regular customers, have been donating their time and effort to cleaning up after the fire.

“They’ve been turning out in droves to help us,” said owner T.L. Nelms. “They’re a great bunch, and we’re lucky to have them. We’ve even got some construction workers who were regulars that were off work (Monday) here helping.”

Steve Voorhies, Manager of Media Relations at the UA, and also a longtime cook on Saturday nights at ROTC, is one of those helping with the renovations.

“

When Don Tyson gives you some money and says ‘Open it back up,’ that’s good motivation.

— Steve Voorhies

Voorhies also started a Facebook page to help ROTC faithful track the cleanup efforts, which will be accelerated as of Monday when power was finally restored to the building.

“Getting the electricity back is going to help a lot,” said Voorhies. “Now that we’ve got the power on, the gas and water will follow.”

Voorhies says that the support from the community is a testament to the connection locals have with the restaurant. “It’s been great,” he said. “You see the number of restaurants that close, and people just kind of shrug their shoulders. That’s not the case here.”

On the day of the fire, many regulars came out to let Nelms know they were in support of the reopening. “I think that really encouraged him,” Voorhies told us. “One guy brought out a rollout dumpster. Another brought a backhoe. They just want to see it open again.”

Workers restore electricity

Even Don Tyson and Joe Fred Starr, both longtime customers and former executives at Tyson Foods, stopped by and donated money to the cause.

“We had our Christmas party the Sunday before the fire and Don was there,” Voorhies said. “He’s been a regular since the place opened. When Don Tyson gives you some money and says ‘Open it back up,’ that’s good motivation.”

The cause of the fire was determined to be a trash can sitting on an extension cord that overheated in the bar area. As a result, the bar received the brunt of the damage. The restaurant and kitchen side were mostly just smoke-damaged. Nelms said that he plans to finish the cleanup of the restaurant side, and reopen that area in about a month. The bar area will require more work.

Nelms, who told us a couple of weeks ago that the damage “might be the final nail in the coffin” for ROTC was optimistic on Monday.

“Maybe we can make it to 37 years now,” he said.

[Photos from the ROTC Grill Facebook page.]

Flyer Newsletter

The latest headlines from the Fayetteville Flyer, delivered straight to your inbox.

    MORE FROM THE FLYER

  • Case update: Arkansas COVID-19 cases increase by 8,064 over past 7 days
  • Fayetteville prohibits overnight parking of RVs, other large vehicles on city streets
  • Collier Drug Stores now offering new Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
  • Northwest Arkansas becoming more diverse, report shows
  • @fayflyer
  •     » Become a sponsor
  • Advertisements

  • Get Email News Updates

    Never miss a story! Sign up here.
  • Advertisements


     

  • Local Info

    Fire/Police Dispatch Logs
    Detention Intake Report
    Public Meetings Schedule
  • Sponsors

  • Flyer Sponsors

    sponsor-logos
    » See all sponsors
  • Sponsor Tweets

    A Twitter List by fayflyer
  • Advertise

    Local businesses are so important to our community.

    Our goal is to work with small- to medium-sized businesses rooted in the community. To acheive this, we’ve developed affordable and effective advertising options for any budget. Several of our long-term packages cost less than $14 per day, including our popular sponsorship program.

    To get started or for more information, call Dustin at 479-387-1002 or send us an email.

     

    Proud member:

  • About
  • Sponsors
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Legal, Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Facebook Twitter Instagram Flickr Pinterest RSS

© 2007-2022 Wonderstate Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy
Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2022, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. See AP policy.