Tag: cafe

Up in flames… the iconic Apple Cup building burns to the ground Saturday

by Richard Uhlhorn

Apple Cup Café building burn:
A piece of Chelan History will burn to the ground beginning Saturday morning, November 8 and like Phoenix rising, a new Café will rise in its place by late 2025 to early 2026.

The Apple Cup Cafe building will become a major training ground for Chelan and other regional firefighters on Saturday morning, November 8.

The Apple Cup Café has been an iconic stop for residents and travelers since 1957. Renamed from the original Snack Shack, the Apple Cup name is in honor of the Apple Cup Hydroplane Races that took place in Chelan in 1957 to 1960.

The Petersen family have owned the café since 1996 and is now in the hands of Ryan and Erin Petersen.

A March 2024 fire destroyed the back end of the building, but the smoke damage was significant throughout the building. It was determined that rebuilding the original site was not advised, so the Petersen’s hired and architect to design a new building.

“I wanted to go big,” laughed Ryan. “I wanted to seat up to 300 people, but then I came to my senses.” The new building will be similar to the old footprint.

Throughout this week, the building has been prepared for a Chelan Fire and Rescue training fire which will give the district’s and other district firefighters a valuable education in fighting structural fires.

The iconic Apple Cup sign has been removed and will be stored until it can be re-installed when the new building is constructed.

“People only wanted two things saved from the old building site… the mural and sign,” said Ryan. The mural was chopped out of the building in pieces on Wednesday and the sign was taken down on Thursday.

Petersen said the mural will become a series of art pieces for the new building and the sign will be back in its spot when the new building is ready.

Saturday Fire

Chelan Fire and Rescue will be on scene at 7:30 a.m. in preparation for the fire

The first lighting will be around 8:30 a.m. according to Ryan Petersen. The second lighting to finish off the building will be between 10 and 11 a.m.

There will be designated areas to watch and the Apple Cup will offer free/donation hamburgers during the event.

The Washington State Patrol or other designated traffic control will route vehicle traffic around the site.

“I think we will be pretty overwhelmed,” said Petersen