|
|
|
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
Following Thursday morning’s fire, owners of two Main Street businesses are busy having the smoke smell and water removed from their properties, while the owner of LoCo’s, destroyed by the blaze, is remembering her antique shop, which is now a pile of rubble.
LoCo’s, 107 E. Main, was a total loss. As part of fire suppression efforts, everything was bulldozed, leaving only the front facade of the business.
Behind that front facade are four original arched windows, along with the numbers 1897, the year the building was constructed.
LoCo’s owner Lori West said she hopes that front facade, with that little bit of history, can remain intact. Since the fire, West had walked through the rubble, and even picked up a couple of the bricks to keep.
“They’re 114 years old — it feels wrong it’s going to all be scooped away,” she said.
Along with those bricks, she’ll have another keepsake.
Through working on a recent roof leak that had closed the business temporarily, West had already uncovered one of the building’s original tin ceiling tiles, which she took home. Those tiles are pictured in a 1914 photograph. Along with the history of the building, the antique treasures in her store had stories. She said the upstairs was full of antique glassware and crystal.
When asked about one of the greatest treasures she was thinking about in her shop, she immediately thought of a little wooden rocking chair, worth no more than about $30, she said. The rocker was for sale, but she had intended to take it home and keep it for her own collection, but she kept putting it off.
“Now I’m kicking myself for not taking it home,” she said. “There’s handfuls of other things.”
She also had many items on consignment, which are a loss. She said she’s spoken with most of the consigners, but lost all records in the fire. Thursday, she initially said she was insured, but Friday said her insurance had lapsed, making the fire a complete loss.
She described LoCo’s as a shop of anything people may want and not need.
She said she does want to reopen, and initially said she would do so elsewhere than downtown, but there’s a lot of uncertainty.
“I love the Shawnee downtown area, but I’m not sure where my business will take me at this point.”
Following Thursday morning’s fire, owners of two Main Street businesses are busy having the smoke smell and water removed from their properties, while the owner of LoCo’s, destroyed by the blaze, is remembering her antique shop, which is now a pile of rubble.
LoCo’s, 107 E. Main, was a total loss. As part of fire suppression efforts, everything was bulldozed, leaving only the front facade of the business.
Behind that front facade are four original arched windows, along with the numbers 1897, the year the building was constructed.
LoCo’s owner Lori West said she hopes that front facade, with that little bit of history, can remain intact. Since the fire, West had walked through the rubble, and even picked up a couple of the bricks to keep.
“They’re 114 years old — it feels wrong it’s going to all be scooped away,” she said.
Along with those bricks, she’ll have another keepsake.
Through working on a recent roof leak that had closed the business temporarily, West had already uncovered one of the building’s original tin ceiling tiles, which she took home. Those tiles are pictured in a 1914 photograph. Along with the history of the building, the antique treasures in her store had stories. She said the upstairs was full of antique glassware and crystal.
When asked about one of the greatest treasures she was thinking about in her shop, she immediately thought of a little wooden rocking chair, worth no more than about $30, she said. The rocker was for sale, but she had intended to take it home and keep it for her own collection, but she kept putting it off.
“Now I’m kicking myself for not taking it home,” she said. “There’s handfuls of other things.”
She also had many items on consignment, which are a loss. She said she’s spoken with most of the consigners, but lost all records in the fire. Thursday, she initially said she was insured, but Friday said her insurance had lapsed, making the fire a complete loss.
She described LoCo’s as a shop of anything people may want and not need.
She said she does want to reopen, and initially said she would do so elsewhere than downtown, but there’s a lot of uncertainty.
“I love the Shawnee downtown area, but I’m not sure where my business will take me at this point.”
The business also was her haven — a place she had fun with friends, she said, making lots of memories there.
As the fire investigation continues, West said she’d just like to know what happened.
So far, Shawnee Fire Marshal David Anderson said cause of the blaze is undetermined, but it appears the fire likely started outside the business, near a wall in the alley.
Businesses on each side of LoCo’s were affected by the fire and closed through the recovery process.
Pam Young, owner of Sense of Charm on the west side, said they are in the process of removing the smoke odor there. Roof repairs also are needed and a structural engineer is being called in to check the integrity of the walls, she said.
Despite the chaos, Young knows it could have been much worse.
“I am thrilled my shop is still standing and we didn’t lose a block,” she said. “The saving grace for me was the four-inch gap between the buildings.”
And while the fire is tragic, it has brought traffic to downtown.
“I’m amazed how many people are downtown that haven been downtown in a while,” she said, adding there’s been many onlookers.
Sense of Charm is a gift shop with various types of home decor. The business sustained some water damage, but mostly consisted of smoke from the fire next door.
Young said the smoke removal process should help the building and make everything fresh, but the fate of the entire inventory of merchandise isn’t yet known.
On the other side of LoCo’s, work crews were busy Friday pumping water from the basement of the Pott. County bookstore. There also was about 10 to 12 feet of water in the elevator shaft there.
Watch for updates.
