Stubblefields Flooding

Inconvenience struck Stubblefields and its customers Wednesday night due to a flood of water and grease that caused damage to the bar.

The bar located on 600 Colorado St. flooded after a new bartender left the water on in a sink as well as spilling a grease trap. The incident left two gallons of grease on the floor which is a hazard for employees and customers. Extensive cleaning has been going on in the kitchen and bathroom to undo the mess that was created.

The damage was mostly located in the downstairs of Stubblefields which is a bar and night club as well. According to Karly P. VanBroekhoven, a bartender at Stubblefields, the damages only came from the office downstairs and a pool table that damaged the felt which will be replaced.

The recently hired bartender, who has been working at Stubblefields for no more than three weeks, is new to many of the operations and job duties to the bar. On Wednesday, she was asked to work as a bartender and work the grill at the same time. It is especially hard to be working at the bar and behind the grill due to juggling both of the responsibilities.

“Usually someone is working just as a bartender and not as a cook at the same time,” said VanBroekhoven. “Cooks are usually back there to help out bartenders so accidents like this don’t happen. Even for the people who have worked here for awhile struggle with doing both.”

VanBroekhoven had been working that night when the accident occurred.

“Mostly just the water and grease spilled on the flood and went into the bathrooms which were all cleaned up in a timely manner; it was just difficult serving customers and having to deal with the mess at the same time.”

The damages came on a night where generally many people come for Wing Night on Wednesdays which tends to be a busy time for the bar.

Construction crews and damaged goods being removed from the bar distracted many customers. “The construction crews coming in and out of the downstairs was really noising and made me want to leave,” stated customer Cameron L. Carter. “I just wanted to eat my wings and drink but it was loud so I left early.”

Carter, a regular customer at Stubblefields, is concerned if the downstairs will be closed for the weekend due to the damages. VanBroekhoven says that the downstairs night club will be open all weekend as the damages were not as bad as expected.

Another customer, Christopher L. Mango said, “I’m really concerned about the damages because I like to play pool and go downstairs on the weekend, it gives me something to do during the summer when I have nothing to do.” Mango is also a regular at Stubblefields and enjoys the dance club at night.

When asked about the loss of customers, VanBroekhoven said it is hard to determine because summer is here and most of the college customers have gone home on break already. “Most of the damages were easy to cleanup but a lot of customers looked at the mess and turned around or were frustrated with the lack of service because we were cleaning up the mess,” said VanBroekhoven.

Luckily for Stubblefields, further damages did not occur because according to VanBroekhoven, Stubblefields plans on expanding the downstairs dance room to create more room for late night customers. The cost of damages from the flood would have lead to remodeling and delaying the expansion date.

Stubblefields is a premier bar and night club spot for college students to visit in Pullman. The loss of business would have been a major blow to the student’s weekend and profits for the bar.

The manager and owner of Stubblefields as well as the new bartender were not available for comment.

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