MASSENA, New York (WWNY) – Fire destroyed the Massena Little League concession stand over the weekend. Kitchen equipment, sporting gear, and memories are gone. What’s more, insurance isn’t going to cover it.
Massena Little League Baseball President says it’s an estimated loss of between $120,000 to $200,000.
“I spoke with our insurance company this morning and it looks like we are only covered by liability. So to answer your question, we do not have insurance that is going to cover any of this,” he said.
Shorette says in this season alone, the Massena Little League gained more than 200 active members and most of those members got their equipment out of this concession stand.
Besides equipment such as bats, gloves, and balls burning up, Little League member Marcus Firnstein says some memories are gone forever as well.
“I think when we went up in the booth, that was just the fun part and we all had our names in the wood where you would put the scoreboard and stuff. Just, I remember countless tournaments going up there and sitting up there for days,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shorette noticed a bit of irony in all the charred debris.
“It was actually something that put a smile on our face out of all of this. The popcorn bags didn’t melt and the nacho cheese bags didn’t melt. They’re still here whole,” he said.
Massena Fire Chief Patrick O’Brien says county investigators are looking into what caused the blaze.
As for moving forward, Shorette says that members of the community are already reaching out to the Little League to help pay for a new stand for the team.
“The amount of support is overwhelming. You know, parents, local businesses, people I’ve never really met are reaching out saying, ‘This is what we want to do,’” he said.
Shorette says the goal for now is to clean up the site and raise money to build again.
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