A Schuylkill County business nearly leveled by fire six months ago reopened its doors on Saturday.
The Alpine Building Supply building was destroyed back in January.
Fire tore through the retail business due to a faulty chimney. Shannon Dewald was the project manager on the new building, and he was in the old building when the fire started.
“I was in here by myself. We had a wood burner and I was putting logs on the wood burner, and it got a little smoky but nobody really noticed anything, and an hour later Dave came in and said I think the building's on fire,” said Dewald.
From the ashes rose an impressive new structure, inside, the aisles are packed with everything from metal roofing and other building supplies, to basic hardware needs for the weekend home improvement warrior.
“Originally our name was Alpine Building and Post Supply, and that's a play on the construction industry for post frame construction. We changed to alpine building supply to get more of the hardware feel,” said Dave Lorady of Alpine Building Supply.
With the new name comes a new size. The previous building was around 800 square feet. The new one is about 2,500 square feet! That means a lot more room inside.
With the building expansion, managers said they may be looking to bring on more employees which is good news considering that shortly after the January blaze, those who work there said they were unsure of what the future would bring.
“It was a little rough. We were working out of pioneer pole buildings. We are the retail division of pioneer, and we were set up in the conference room over there. It's much better being in your own spot,” said Dewald.
The company said because they specializes in pole buildings, the new structure went up rather quickly. It was actually completed last month, but workers spent the following few weeks stocking the shelves and preparing for the grand opening.