OLIVIA -- Nearly three weeks after a fire destroyed the home of two Olivia businesses, the owners of One Dollar Deals and Schultz Machine Shop still debate the future of their decimated companies.
After spending a combined 29 years with their shops in the recently-demolished building, both owners say plans for rebuilding and reopening are a long way off.
"I've got time to think and the equipment is all 100 percent gone," said Kurt Schultz, owner of Schultz Machine Shop. "It takes time to replace equipment, so I guess I hadn't really decided yet. I wanted to deal with insurance first and then go from there."
A fire broke out Jan. 24 at 307 East Lincoln Ave. in Olivia. Shortly after Olivia and Bird Island the fire departments arrived, the fire at the commercial building housing the two businesses was deemed inextinguishable. The building burned to its concrete block walls.
Casey Stotts, deputy state fire marshal and an investigator for the Minnesota State Fire Marshal's Office, said Jan. 25 that a cause for the fire had yet to be determined. Stotts could not be reached Friday for further analysis.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, Bonnie Durbin, co-owner of One Dollar Deals, said Friday the state Fire Marshal's Office declared the fire's cause undeterminable.
Durbin is waiting to finalize the insurance details and for co-owner Sam Knight to recover from burns before she considers the business' future. Knight was inside the shop during the fire and suffered second-degree burns to his back and hands. Durbin said doctors estimate Knight's recovery will take between four to six weeks.
"We'd like to (start it up again)," Durbin said. "It was a fun business, but things are really up in the air on it."
Durbin has managed One Dollar Deals since its 2003 move into the partitioned building located east of downtown Olivia. Durbin bought the store out from her sister three years later and has been a co-owner since. Knight ran the day-to-day operations. Debbie Peterson, who sold the store to Durbin, also owns the Dollar Stop in Granite Falls.
The machine shop had been a resident of the building's south side for 24 years. Schultz said the local customers were the reason he started the business there; he hopes they'll be the reason for its return.
