Northwood Plaza business owners band together following devastating fire

Even if parts of the building survived direct fire damage, the business owners explain that didn’t protect from smoke damage, on top of other wider reaching impacts like power and water, among other concerns.

“I have to find temporary space, reschedule everyone, basically just a waiting game to hear from the insurance to see if it’s going to be a rebuild and where we go from here,” Martin said.

“We’ve all just put everything that we have into these businesses, from start to finish every day. If we don’t work, we don’t eat. If we don’t work we don’t pay our bills,” Martin continued.

In Whelan’s case, adding insult to injury, she says her business was still recovering from a separate fire that occurred three or four weeks ago.

“I am just kind of trying to take it day by day. I still have my previous insurance claim that hasn’t gone through, so I’m about a month behind on my bills before this happened,” Whelan said.

“We just spent the last year of literal blood, sweat, and tears doing the renos. We weren’t even actually officially open yet, we were supposed to be open two weeks from now. But then the first fire happened and set us back, and now my entire business is destroyed. I don’t know what’s salvageable, I haven’t even been able to go inside and see,” Whelan continued.

To help offset the sudden loss of income and the loss of their businesses, the business owners of the Northwood Plaza have banded together to support each other, and they’re planning a fundraiser. It will take place on May 11 at the Hart Mall from 5:00-8:00 p.m.

“We’re going to have some hotdogs, some burgers, we have a silent auction, bouncy castles for the kids,” Martin said.

While the fundraiser hopes to manage some of the lost income, the loss of their businesses isn’t purely about the monetary side of things, it’s also about the tragic emotional toll of losing something you’ve invested countless hours of your life into building, and the community that forms around a locally owned small business.

“We’re all feeling a sense of loss and displacement from all this,” Martin said.

“We’re like a family down here, all of us businesses, and I frequent the other places here as well, and I know the whole town is going to miss Nelly’s for sure. It’s just been a really hard thing for a lot of people,” Whelan added.

As for next steps, that’s largely uncertain at the moment. The businesses have to wait for inspectors to finish their work, figure out the insurance side of things, and also find spots to relocate. Whether relocating is temporary or permanent likely comes down to the first two factors, and whether or not rebuilding is a viable option.

by Tommy Osborne

Northwood Plaza business owners band together following devastating fire

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