Businesses Making A Comeback After Massive Fire Destroys Historic South Side Building
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's been more than a month since a massive fire destroyed a historic South Side building.
On Feb. 8, flames were seen shooting out of the roof of the building at 11th and East Carson streets. The two businesses that were inside are still recovering.
"All of this is replaceable. What isn't is the location, the memories that were shared here," J's Master Barbershop owner Justin Lutheran said.
The massive fire caused the home to Lutheran's barbershop to come crashing down. What was left of the building was torn down days after the fire.
"As soon as that happened, I knew it was over. There's no coming back from that," Lutheran said.
Now what is left is a dirt plot with some straw over top.
"It's hard to even remember the shop when you look at it like this," Lutheran told KDKA.
His new shop is just a stone's throw away. It's now near the corner of East Carson and 10th streets.
"For us to be able to stay here and have an opportunity to give back to the community that helped us, it means a lot to me," he said.
Within days of the fire, Lutheran decided to make this the home for his shop.
"You could either sit down and cry about it, and it's not going to do anything to fix it," Lutheran said. "Or you could get to work and get it running as fast as possible."
Inside, he and his barbers did an entire flip to get it ready for haircuts. They are waiting on some licenses and hope to reopen before the summer.
"Just a big sigh of relief. Everybody got their jobs back. The shop's back up and running," Lutheran said.
Between now and then, there is still some work to do, but Lutheran is excited to get customers back in the door.
"A lot of messages of, 'When are you guys coming back? Can we see the place?'" he said. "That just makes me happy to know they care as much as we do."
The South Side Chamber of Commerce is now in a law office across the street for the time being.
President Mark Bucklaw said the Chamber of Commerce lost a lot in the fire, but it continues to serve the neighborhood. He said the pandemic was presenting challenges and now the Chamber of Commerce is dealing with the aftermath of the fire.
The chamber is not sure where its permanent home will be. Currently, it's focused on getting back to normal.
"Right across the street we thought would be good for the time being, until we figure what exactly it is we're going to do and where we will be in the future," Bucklaw said. "Right now, we are focused on our efforts to build the chamber to what it was before. We lost a lot in the fire."
The chamber plans to have fundraisers over the next few months to help get back. You can learn more here.
At this point, Pittsburgh Public Safety said a cause for the fire has not been given.
