The Bargain Barn will be rebuilt within eight to 12 months at the same location on Highway 515 where the 90,000 square foot sporting goods store burned down last Monday, according to owner Jerry Stover.  “We fully intend to rebuild,” said Stover. “It may be a different style building, depending on what our insurance can provide. We will put back a structure the community will be proud to call the Bargain Barn.”  He said the demolition work will begin soon, and the original concrete slab will be inspected to see if it can be built on again.  Three investigators reached the same conclusion Thursday as to where in the store the fire started, Stover said. He said they determined the fire started somewhere in the wall in the fishing department.  Based on that conclusion, the cause of the fire was either electrical or lightning, Stover said.  “We were relieved to see nobody did it on purpose,” he said.  The three investigators who came to that conclusion were an insurance fraud investigator from Minnesota, a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) investigator, and a state arson investigator, Stover said.  Although Stover’s building insurance may not quite cover a new building of the same size, the good news is he had business interruption insurance which will allow him to continue to pay his employees, with benefits, until the new store opens.  “The people are more important than things,” said Stover. “The people that worked for us are the Bargain Barn.”

Insurance will also cover over $6 million of losses in inventory and personal effects, such as display cases, clothing racks, shelves and furniture, the owner said. There is a $2.8 million limit on the building. “We’re probably underinsured on the building,” said Stover.  He added the insurance company does not yet know the exact value of what was lost.  The ATF, who investigated the site to account for the firearms that were in the store, was unable to find everything that was there because the fire was so hot that many of the guns were completely destroyed. Stover said they were confident no one had taken any guns before the fire started.  The charred remnants of the large firearm inventory  were placed in piles in the store’s parking lot during the cleanup process. Much of what remained was so damaged by the fire that the serial numbers could not be seen, Stover said.  Stover and his employees have been pleased with the “overwhelming” support of the community and everyone who has offered help in rebuilding. He said the Bargain Barn’s suppliers have even offered to provide some free inventory for the new store.  “We want to thank everyone for all their prayers, kind words, cards, and emails,” Stover said. “As we make progress we’ll try to keep it communicated to the public.”  One aspect of the store which can’t be replaced, is the large taxidermy collection that adorned the walls of the Bargain Barn. Stover said it took years to build that collection.  “That will make it difficult to make the new store look like the Bargain Barn,” said Stover.