'Pulls on your heartstrings': demolition starts on former Sauced building, Thayer Mansion

Yahoo

19-04-2025

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Demolition gets underway after a massive fire on Christmas Day left a restaurant in ruins. The Italian restaurant Sauced and the Thayer Mansion is coming down where birthdays, weddings and receptions were celebrated.
After standing tall in Evansville for decades those two buildings at 1113 Parrett Street are coming down after a fire heavily damaged Sauced on Christmas last year. Some say it's heartbreaking.
Some on-lookers tell me a piece of Evansville history and what some credit as the spark in the neighborhood revitalization effort will be gone sooner rather than later. Sauced Owner Scott Schymik certainly has made an impression on the city and the customers who came through the door.
Brian Buxton who runs the ever-popular Fingers, Fork, Knife & Spoon Facebook page is just one of them.
'Sauced: it was one people's favorite Italian restaurants in town. I had been for many times for dinner. They had a great outdoor patio. Scott obviously is a great chef, had a great menu and it's sad when you lose anything like this,' Buxton says.
Construction crews began taking down what house the beloved restaurant, ballroom and the former Kirby's Private Dining where several people hold special memories.
That includes Moriah Hobgood who ran the blue bar for two years and now owns Mo's House which sits across the street from hallowed grounds.
'I literally would not be where I am without Sauced, and Scott and the blue bar and what it is. So, it definitely pulls at your heartstrings to see it being torn down and not being part of the neighborhood anymore for sure,' Hobgood says.
Schymik tells me the Christmas Day fire waterlogged the entire building and someone was also renting the upstairs apartment. Some say it's a loss, but they have memories to hold close for life.
'It was Sauced — I felt like — was the first thing that was here — Kirby's — and people got married there. They had huge moments, first dates, the married later on. I don't exactly know how to process seeing it gone or what it will look like,' Hobgood says.
Schymik believes crews will stay on scene for a couple weeks to finish the demolition.
'Pulls on your heartstrings': demolition starts on former Sauced building, Thayer Mansion
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