By Oona Mackesey-Green
Northside News

On the night of Oct. 17, sirens wailed as fire engines rushed to put out the blaze consuming the gift shop at the Madison Mallards stadium. No one was injured, and firefighters were able to extinguish it quickly, but not before an estimated $150,000 in damages to the building, which was ultimately torn down. The fire is under investigation as arson; details about a $5,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest are available at madisonfire.org.

The Mallards are currently rebuilding the gift shop, but one of the biggest losses, said Mallards General Manager Tyler Isham, is that “95% of the materials used to build the team store were pieces from the old stadium. The sides of the building were from bleachers at Warner Park, the wood framing was the frame of the bleachers.” 

The Mallards are making the best of a serious situation, said Isham, and will host a Fire Sale of T-shirts, sweatshirts and a few hats with minimal smoke damage at discounted prices Saturday, Dec. 7 from 12-4 pm at the Duck Blind. “We’re looking towards next year,” said Isham. “2020 will be the Mallards 20th season in Madison and Warner Park. All of our energy and efforts are focused towards making sure on opening day next year that the fans will come in and not be able to tell that [the fire] happened.”