PLUNKETTS CREEK TOWNSHIP -- It took more than a year but a restaurant destroyed by the flood of 2011 is back open in Lycoming County.
The owners rebuilt Pier 87 Bar & Grill and are in business once again.
People who live in the Montoursville area have been waiting and waiting for Pier 87 to get back up and running.
After all, the destroyed restaurant was one of the more visible scars from the flood but not anymore.
There's a lunch crowd at Pier 87 north of Montoursville for the first time in quite a while. The kitchen staff is busy and the diners are back.
All that was washed away when floodwaters slammed the restaurant in September, 2011. The Loyalsock Creek blew apart the building. Some questioned if the owners would rebuild.
"It's been here for 100 years, a staple in Lycoming County. I know the valley needed it and we wanted it back," said co-owner Brad Russell.
Nearly a year after the flood, the owners broke ground last August on the new restaurant and committed to making a comeback.
Now that's a reality and Pier 87's head chef said it is a sweet feeling to be in business again.
"It's a relief, it's exciting, looking forward to the season, weddings and caterings. That kind of stuff," said Owen Rutan.
It has been a year and five months since the flood of September 2011 wiped out Pier 87. The bar and grill was rebuilt 40 feet farther from the creek and higher off the ground. Some in the Loyalsock Creek valley a sense that things are getting back to normal.
"People help people, that's what it's about. A wonderful thing, way more than we expected," said patron Charlie Mull.
Mull said he was devastated when Pier 87 was destroyed. Now he and others are thrilled to have the restaurant back.
"It's wonderful, good people, good food, good atmosphere, what more could anyone ask?"