Investigators say an electrical problem with a clothes dryer sparked an early morning fire last week inside the Veneto Wood Fired pizza and Pasta restaurant on East Avenue.
The blaze severely damaged the back half of the restaurant. And owner Don Swartz said it could be months before he can reopen.
“This is so new, we’re not sure at this point,” Swartz said, echoing other affected tenants describing a still-fluid situation. “I heard an estimate that it could take 10 months to a year to rebuild.
“They think that the back half of that building is going to have to come down.”
For others in the building, including Akimbo Bookshop which rents space above the restaurant, the fire was devastating.
“Everything is ruined,” said bookstore owner Rachel Crawford, who is just coming to terms with what initially was unseen. “When I first went up with the firefighters, I said, ‘This is great.’ They said, ‘You don’t know what smoke damage is, do you?’”
Firefighters responding at 5:40 a.m. Wednesday found heavy smoke and fires in multiple rooms.
The back part of the restaurant was largely reserved for storage and food preparation. The area now is waterlogged, Swartz said.
Smoke from the fire permeated the entirety of the three-building complex, also affecting two apartments and forcing Wall Street Bar and Grill to close as well.
Those spaces could be cleaned up and open soon, said an optimistic Swartz. But Crawford said black ooze is seeping in on the floor, next to the wall in her space. She brought the cashbox home, thinking she could at least clean that, but said she can’t get rid of the smell. Even if she could afford to get the books cleaned, and the price didn’t exceed that of the item, she would likely have to sell them as used, and at a reduced price.
Most of Veneto’s full- and part-time employees, about 20 people in all, have relocated to the restaurant’s Buffalo Road location. Swartz is looking for temporary space in the city, if he can transfer the restaurant’s liquor license.
“So that we can transplant everybody over there, no one loses their job, and we keep moving forward – if possible,” he said.
The restaurant has been on East Avenue for two decades, most of it at this location. Having weathered the shutdown and restrictions of COVID-19, Swartz said business was good. Now this.
“It’s major,” Swartz said of the impact. “You know, we finally bounced back from that (the pandemic). For the past year and a half, it's been our strongest growth.”
His plan to open a café between Veneto and Wall Street are on hold, he said, even though he just received the state OK on his liquor license. He got word on Wednesday, the same day as the fire.
As for Crawford, insurance will cover a portion of her inventory, she said. But there also is loss of income. The business was just starting to hit stride and turn a profit, having opened just eight months ago.
“I don’t have any cushion to fall on right now,” she said. “That was my life savings.”
