LOCK HAVEN - The Old Corner bar is open, but the grill and bottle shop in the downtown business will remain closed for a couple more weeks.
The kitchen, which has been closed since it was severely damaged by fire on New Year's Eve, is still awaiting repairs.
The bar adjacent to the kitchen was closed for a few days following the fire, but escaped damages and re-opened the following Wednesday.
Owner Donnie Powers said the kitchen work will begin as soon as the plans are approved and he expects to be cooking and serving food again at the beginning of February.
Powers said he was cooking on the grill and burners throughout the day New Year's Eve, getting ready for the employee party that night when the inside of the wall caught fire from the heat of the stove. He said the fire reached the roof before volunteers could snuff out the stubborn blaze.
Powers said he had the stove on four hours straight cooking pasta that day. "It was probably more than it could take. The heat from the stove set the wall on fire ... it spread to the studs ... crawled up into the ceiling and into the roof. The kitchen was destroyed," Powers said.
On Wednesday, Doug Lutz from Swartz Fire and Safety of Bellefonte was removing the Ansul fire protection system from the kitchen area.
An engineer is drafting drawings, which must be approved by a commercial codes inspector and then M&R Contracting of Lock Haven can start repair work, Powers said. That work could begin on Monday, he added.
"It should only be a couple of weeks once they are able to get started," he said of the repairs. "We'll be open for sure by the first week in February."
While the actual bottle shop and bar were spared, the kitchen area received extensive damage to the roof, floor and walls. In addition, refrigeration equipment, the stove and the range were damaged and will have to be replaced, Powers said.
Those appliances, which are awaiting inspection by insurance reps, along with items that were not damaged - pots, pans and dishes - are now being stored in a mobile storage trailer in the Church Street Municipal Parking lot next to the business.
In the meantime, the bar is open, with "firesale hours" - 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. - seven days a week, with free kraut dogs and bowls of soup for $1.
Why the free food?
Powers said, in order to keep his bar license with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board intact while repairs are made, he must be able to serve hot food to 30 people within an hour, even if his kitchen is shut down. The soup is cooked off premises and served out of crock pots.
Still, Powers said, the fire has "severely" hurt his business.
"At least 50 percent of our business is from the food, along with the accompanying beverages. That's all gone," he said. "Business is down. Last weekend was pretty good, but people who are going out for dinner will get it from elsewhere."
Thankfully, Powers said his insurance through Davis Insurance not only covers the loss (there is no damage estimate yet until the engineering drawings are complete), but the business' payroll and lost revenues.
Powers said the fire-damaged wall in the 145-year-old, three-story structure was probably built in the early 20th century, and firemen told him there probably have been other smoldering embers there through the years that never hit the air and fully ignited.
"The best thing we can do is to re-build the wall up to code," he said.
"We'll be back, better than ever."
