Late Sunday morning after the fire had been extinguished and cleanup was underway, we made our way back to the sad scene we had just left a few hours earlier. There is still no definitive word on how the blaze started. From the street the outlook looked grim. The third floor was all but gone and the second floor was a scorched mess. Then to our surprise, Jack Finn appears from the basement up the stairs to the Main street entrance. He welcomed us at what was left of the door and invited us inside to see what was left. Judging by the look of things on the main floor, we did not expect much. We proceeded down the relatively unharmed stairs to the bar which is located in the basement of the building.

What Has Become of the Busted Lift.

It was pitch dark except for Jack's flashlight. In the dim available glow from the light, we were shocked at what we saw. It was the Busted Lift, almost just as it looked last night before anything happened. Aside from the smell of burned wood and the remnants of 2 feet of standing water, the bar was unscathed. Power was run from the building next door and a flood light threw a wash of light across the bar. There is was, pristine, though suffering from a layer of muck. If not for a severely damaged second and third floor, the bar looks like it could be open for business in a few days time. However, it appears obvious that there will be considerable repairs needed upstairs before anyone is allowed in the basement nightspot again.

Considering that a total loss was assumed by everyone involved just hours earlier, to see all of the precious personal items in the bar unharmed was an incredible relief. We toured both side of the just expanded Lift and only found one small area of floorboards above that showed the mark of flames. It seems that the basement didn't even get hot enough to set off the sprinkler system. Though the Leprechaun sitting atop the tap behind the bar was grayed and soggy, it appears he left a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. We stayed for a while to help begin the cleanup process, mostly gathering cases of pint glasses from the floor and restacking them off the ground and out of their soggy boxes. The bitterly cold air sweeping through the bar was making work painfully difficult for wet hands. For the most part, it was a day for assessing what was gone and what was left; doing the things that had to be done to prevent further damage such as anti-freezing the toilets to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting, and collecting valuable and delicate items from the area. Now the question is, can the rest of the building be saved.

A Mix of Hopes and Speculation

It is the hope of John and Jack Finn, owners of the Busted Lift, that the structure was left sound enough on the second floor to build a new roof at that level and reopen with two floors instead of three. In a perfect world, two completely remodeled floors would allow for a reopened Busted Lift as well as the completion of the restaurant that was to be built on the Main floor in the coming year. As John said, "we can live with two floors." It is our assessment that with the third floor removed, a new roof could conceivably be placed back on the building one floor shorter. The Main Street facade could still rise the three floors it currently does with false windows completing the aesthetic restoration of the building's face. It all hinges on the condition of the upper floors. The floor joists supporting the main floor are perfect as fire did not enter the basement. The condition of floor joists on the second floor remains to be seen. Can they support a roof? Can they be removed and an entirely new roof be set in its place? These are the questions the Finns' look to get answers to as soon as possible. After a night of believing their dream had gone up in smoke, lady luck has shined on the Busted Lift. Fear has turned to optimism. This pint glass is definitely half full.

- Bryce Parks

- Photos by Ben Burke and Bryce Parks

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