GREENFIELD — Reconstruction is underway at a Greenfield shopping plaza that was badly damaged in a fire last year.
Two of the four businesses that were housed there are excitedly looking to the future, promising to return to their former store fronts.
Owners of Riley Park Plaza, who own Mueller Auto Body — which anchored the strip mall — hope it won’t be long before the mention of their shopping center, located at Main Street and U.S. 40, evokes the image of new-and-improved businesses, rather than the roaring flames that destroyed the site.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe four businesses in a plaza just east of downtown Greenfield burned after Mueller Auto Body Shop caught fire Nov. 10.
Portions of the building were heavily damaged by the fire that raged that fall evening; others suffered bad smoke and water damage.
Firefighters stayed on the scene for more than seven hours fighting the blaze, which city leaders called one of the worse in recent memory.
Half of the plaza’s former tenants have signed agreements to move back into the plaza now that’s its been reconstructed, owner Michael Pfeiffer said.
The office for Mueller Auto Body, 1020 E. Main St., is about six weeks from being completed and employees are eager to move back into and get to work, Pfeiffer said.
And while its portion of the plaza is still under construction, the hair salon that once called Riley Park Plaza home also plans to return.
Tangles Hair Salon will reopen its storefront at 1006 E. Main St. — news its owner Mandi McFarland said she’s excited to share because she’d previously thought the fire had put her out of business.
Tangles will reopen under a new name — Salon 1006 — and a few of the stylists who worked for McFarland have signed on to return. she’s working closely with contractors to make sure the salon is exactly what she wants it to be, she said.
Riley Park Plaza felt too much like home to truly leave it behind, McFarland said.
The other two businesses formerly at the shopping center — Pop INdy, a candy and soda shop, and Burdock Boutiques, a specialty flea market of curated individually owned vendor booths — have not yet signed a lease saying they’ll return to Riley Park Plaza. Owners of both businesses could not be reached for comment on this story.
Burdock Boutiques owners told the Daily Reporter in December that they were still weighing their options, hesitant to make any decisions about the future just yet.
Future construction on the other two storefronts in Riley Park Plaza will depend upon the tenants who sign up move in, Pfeiffer said.
Getting the approval from local and state government officials to rebuild the shopping center and auto body shop has been a long, drawn-out process, Pfeiffer said.
First, local fire officials had to wait for the roof to be stabilized after a state engineer visited the buildings’ remains in November, determining they were not safe to enter.
In the meantime, the family has run a temporary office at 1111 E. Main St. The body shop’s capabilities are limited, but they are able to write estimates, do minor repairs, glass work and some dent repair, said store manager Matt Pfeiffer.
Then, further delays occurred as Michael and Deborah Pfeiffer sought six variances and a zoning change from the Greenfield Board of Zoning Appeals to allow them to rebuild their business in the exact footprint it had before the November fire.
More than 200 neighbors and friends of the business signed a petition asking city officials to let them bring the body shop back. The zoning in the area had changed over the years and would not allow for body shops; Mueller had formerly been grandfathered in.
Dozens of people attended the December and January Board of Zoning Appeals meetings to show their support as well.
The board recommended to the Greenfield City Council to approve all of the zoning variances, which mostly comprised of smaller distances from nearby roads than are currently allowed for developments according to city codes.
