A fire broke out in Madison on July 13 in a historic building on Hancock Street that houses several restaurants and offices, Morgan County Citizen first reported.

There were no serious injuries, but the fire impacted MAD Hospitality restaurants The Sinclair and Betty Gene’s as well as Community Roots Market. It also impacted MAD Hospitality’s offices and Thomas Preston Real Estate, LLC.

Betty Gene’s, Community Roots Market and the nearby offices were a “complete loss,” according to a statement from the City of Madison Fire & Rescue.

Betty Gene’s and Community Roots’ walls are still standing, but there was a “complete roof collapse” Madison Fire Marshal Gene Porter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “It’s almost to the floor.”

The Madison Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Betty Gene’s a little after 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, according to the fire department. Fire crews worked to contain the blaze to save The Sinclair next door and to keep it from spreading to the Morgan County Courthouse and Truist Bank.

Madison Square restaurants Betty Gene's and Community Market were "a complete loss" after a fire on Sunday burned through them. (Courtesy of City of Madison Fire Department)

Credit: Handout

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Credit: Handout

The fire was brought under control after several hours of firefighting efforts.

“In total, over 45 firefighters and 16 apparatus from multiple agencies responded and battled the extreme smoke, fire and heat conditions during one of the hottest days of the year,” the fire department said in a statement.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it’s “not suspicious in origin,” Porter said.

The Sinclair and Betty Gene’s are ventures from MAD Hospitality owner and CEO Preston Snyder. His wife, Cindi Fetch is the owner and proprietor of Community Roots Market.

The couple moved to Madison from Atlanta in 2018 to be closer to his parents. He was previously a managing partner in Braden Fellman Group, a real estate agency in Virginia-Highland that specializes in small-scale historic preservation.

Cindi Fetch, proprietor of Community Roots Market in Madison and wife of Mad Hospitality founder Preston Snyder. (Ligaya Figueras/AJC)

Credit: Ligaya Figueras

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Credit: Ligaya Figueras

Snyder began purchasing and restoring vacant properties around Madison Square, and he established MAD Hospitality in 2020 as a way to fill a culinary void in the community.

“Now it’s kind of a question of what’s next and how do we deal with what’s fallen on our plate,” Snyder told the AJC on Wednesday.

As far as impacted employees, none will be laid off. “We’re doing everything we can to kind of repurpose and move folks around so they’re getting shifts,” he said. In addition, the company was encouraging staff to take paid vacation days, particularly since business is slower in summer months.

The Sinclair, a 500-square-foot café inside an old gas station, suffered soot, smoke and water damage. Snyder hopes to get cleaned up quickly so that the shop can reopen soon.

Preston Snyder (left) stands with Michael McNeill, the master sommelier who developed the wine program for The Dining Room, the fine-dining restaurant that Snyder opened in 2023 in Madison. (Courtesy of Mad Hospitality).

Credit: Courtesy of Mad Hospitality

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Credit: Courtesy of Mad Hospitality

The future of the Community Roots Market and Betty Jean’s are unknown. “I’m not sure what we’re going to be able to do there,” Snyder said. He planned to meet with the city’s planning department and his go-to architectural teams later this week to explore options.

“I’m a real estate guy and do small scale development, so the things I like to work on are problem properties that need everything,” he added. “So in a lot of ways, this just becomes a new real estate project for me … I’d like to get these outlets open again.”

Both of those concepts were deeply personal for Snyder and Fetch. Community Roots Market was Fetch’s way to provide the downtown square with fresh food, like a “gritty Star Provisions,” she said in a 2023 AJC interview. Betty Gene’s was a Southern diner named for Snyder’s deceased mother.

“The hardest part in the middle of all of this is my wife crying,” Snyder said. “She’s put heart and soul into this thing … And then, for me, the kind of the memorabilia, the pieces of furniture that were my mom’s, the original artwork that was hers. There’s a lot of stuff that was lost in this that simply can’t be replaced.”

When Betty Jean’s debuted in the summer of 2023, it marked MAD Hospitality’s sixth dining concept, all in historic downtown. Later that year, Snyder was named “Restaurateur Rookie of the Year” by the Georgia Restaurant Association.

“I’ve worked with (Snyder) on every one of those projects he’s had here in Madison as the fire marshal through my office,” Porter said. “He’s been great to work with, and he seems to care about the community and wants to put into it. We welcome that.”

Snyder estimated that he has invested roughly $20-25 million in Madison “in terms of property investment, redevelopment dollars and investment in the restaurant company.” Besides MAD Hospitality’s portfolio, Snyder spearheaded New South Motor Inn, a 15-room midcentury roadside motel that he restored from its Old South Motor Inn days as well as various loft projects and other residential and commercial spaces in the area.

Snyder said he has been touched by the outpouring of support from the community. “It’s a constant barrage of texts and emails and social media comments and everything else. The outpouring of concern and expressions of appreciation and hope for our ability to get these things back open … has just been incredible,” he said.

“We remain hopeful and optimistic about all of it,” Snyder said. “You gotta keep going and figure out what the next steps are to bounce back, right? We’re getting after it.”

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