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The interior of the Chelsea Grille is still in a state of disarray, but General Manager Rob Hohnke said owners of the popular restaurant are planning on reopening in time for the holidays.
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Rivaling the massive effort by firefighters to save the structure from the flames, an equally intensive effort has been made to get the doors open again.
Immediately following the fire, several merchants said they would reopen in a matter of weeks or perhaps August at the latest, but there are still some significant hurdles to clear before that will be possible.
Doug Sills, a partner in the shopping center's "landlord," First Holding Management Co. of West Bloomfield, said the owners of the property are "deeply committed" to returning the shopping center to full activity as soon as commercially viable.
"The owners are deeply committed to Chelsea and the shopping center, and to turning an unfortunate accident into an opportunity to make it a better shopping experience," Sills said.
One of the ways they are doing that is by updating the design of the building by bringing the recessed storefronts closer to the main walkway and modernizing the appearance of the front facade.
"We're going to make some design changes, make the spaces even more attractive and accessible; and at no cost to the current tenants," Sills said.
That was one cause of the delay in rebuilding: the redesign had to go be approved by the city Planning Commission.
"What they are proposing to do is to come out so that the frontage of those retail units are in line with the right and left," explained Planning Commission Chairman George Kinzer.
"It was a sufficiently large enough addition that it changes the footprint of the building and they had to come before us for an amended plan."
That plan was OK'd by the commission on Sept. 16.
"Part of it was structural, part was aesthetic," said Chelsea Zoning and Planning Administrator Jim Drolett.
Some aspects of the construction met the building code when it was built but no longer meet current code requirements for reconstruction, he added.
"It's only about 1,800 square feet, but there are probably more faÁade changes coming."
Another part of the delay was in trying to straighten out the numerous insurance claims.
"We are investing our own dollars and the insurance dollars back into the center," said Sills.
"When there are so many different merchants, every merchant has their own insurer and every insurer had to sign off on the plans, and that took some time.
"The time frame will vary on the permitting process, construction, and weather," Sills added.
"Hopefully we'll be turning the spaces over (to the merchants) by Feb. 1 or before, then they're going to need time to move in and reinventory."
That likely won't sit well with many of the tenants, especially those who were counting on seasonal traffic to get them back on a paying basis.
Jim Mumma, owner of Liberty Tax Service, said he was told that construction was supposed to start Oct. 1, and anticipated he could return in December.
"That's kind of critical; I hope they keep that deadline because I already missed my fall tax class to evaluate people's tax situations," Mumma said last week.
He is earning income through another full-time job, but is eager to get back to his tax practice.
"I certainly intend to get back there and reopen, and make my service available to people in Chelsea," Mumma said.
He added that he is grateful for the support of the community in the aftermath of the fire.
"I was very impressed with how the community came out to assist, everybody was just terrific," he said. "I even got a call from a banker at TCF offering to let me use a conference room if I needed it."
Mumma also assured his clients that their records have always been safe, by being stored in a secure off-site location.
Owners of the Chelsea Grille also hoped to be open for the holiday shopping crowd.
"The prospective reopen date is December or January; we hope to be open for the holidays," General Manager Rob Hohnke said recently.
He has managed to keep a positive attitude throughout this trying time.
"I told my boss I had a dream that we reopened and were as busy as we ever were," Hohnke said.
"It's been a big learning process. I didn't think I'd ever have to go through something like this, but I've learned so much."
He has tried to keep track of his employees, most of whom have found other jobs since the fire, because "I want those familiar faces back."
While the exterior and roof have to be fixed before any interior work can be done, Hohnke said he is working with the owners on new ideas for restaurant layout, menu and training.
"Whatever I can do to get things rolling again," Hohnke said.
Carl Laesch, owner of the shopping center's other restaurant, Aleko's Carry-Out, said he, too, will return but had planned to do so in December.
He looked at the forced time off as an opportunity to reconnect with his family in a way that wasn't possible when he was constantly working.
"I've spent time with my family and got to coach my son's soccer team," Laesch said.
"That's the only plus out of this: being with my wife and kids."
He's kept himself busy with occasional catering jobs, but praised his insurance company for helping out with some supplemental income.
"My insurance company has been really easy to work with," he said.
"(They are) giving us money to live on and cover monthly bills."
Deb and Denise Bauer, financial advisers with Edward Jones Investments, were fortunate in being immediately able to move in with another Edward Jones office on Middle Street, and suffered minimal business disruption.
But the sisters will part ways on Monday, when Deb Bauer will move into a new office in the Oak Tree Plaza on Old US-12 near the Fletcher Road interchange on I-94.
"We're still waiting to hear what's going to happen (at the shopping center)," Deb said.
"I think we fared better than most because we had another location here in town that we could move to."
Another business fortunate to have not just one spare location but two was Hicks Cleaners.
"We're really lucky we have two other stores, it's been business as usual for us," said co-owner Colette Hicks.
"We can't do anything (at the shopping center) until the management goes in and cleans things up."
The other Hicks Cleaners locations are on Jackson Road in Scio Township and in the Traver Village Shopping Center on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor.
Perhaps most puzzling is the situation with Pamida, which suffered minimal physical fire damage yet is the lynchpin for restoration efforts.
After the fire, the store moved out all its merchandise due to smoke damage, and officials said it would be only a matter of weeks until the store was restocked and reopened.
In the interim, however, company execs apparently had a change of heart about the way they do business in Chelsea.
"We're trying to be flexible for Pamida," said Sills, while the store has a "brief recess in their operations."
"Their national prototype has changed: it's tighter, more condensed, so they wanted to have less space," Sills explained.
"We're working with other partners to try and find a related business that can take over some of that excess space."
Signs outside the store promise it will reopen and workers have been seen inside recently, but no merchandise is visible.
Company officials could not be reached for comment by press time.
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