HALLSTEAD -- A bar and restaurant in Susquehanna County is back open, only six weeks after a car plowed into the place, destroying much of the bar area.
We were in Hallstead on Wednesday where the owner was proud to show off all the repairs and thank all those who helped after the crash.
Surveillance video shows a car plowing right into the bar. The car was entirely inside the building, leaving a mess behind back on Labor Day weekend. Nearly everything in the bar area was destroyed or damaged.
Six weeks later, there is no sign of damage; the place looks like new.
"It looks fantastic. We still have some more stuff to do, a little cosmetic stuff. We're working on it," said owner Dennis Maloney.
Maloney is especially grateful to contractors and employees who put in many hours to speed up the repairs.
"Employees, whenever they could get a few minutes to help clean up, paint, whatever they could do to help get open again."
Now the kitchen is cooking again. The employees are doing their actual jobs again.
"It's so nice to be back to work. Our customers are our friends. We would see people in the community asking 'when are you going to be open? We miss you guys, we can't wait to get back in,'" said Maloney's employee Michelle Brown.
What they're most grateful for was that no one there when the car came crashing in. All this happened right after the place closed.
"I've never been happier in my life to have a slow night and get out early. I got out about an hour early that night and she hit the bar a half hour after I left."
Michelle Brown was bartending that night. Now she's back and customers are, too.
"It was a nice place before but now it's great, it's a lot better," said Jim Barber.
There's a new entrance to welcome everyone back. It was blown apart when the car came crashing in from Route 11.
Inside the bar, there's now a Route 11 sign that was wrapped around that car in all the wreckage.
"We earned that sign," Maloney said. "We had to straighten that out and do some work and hang it on the wall."
Maloney's Pub and Restaurant will be holding a grand re-opening celebration coming up all this weekend to thank everyone for their work to bounce back, and to welcome back all the customers.