Chased out by flooding, Churchill Square business reopens

It's been nearly a year Alpine Country Lodge was forced out of its Churchill Square home of nearly 25 years.

"We're delighted to be back in the square," store owner David O'Grady said, nearly one year after severe rain damage forced it and several neighbouring businesses out in March 2017.

They had to go right to the studs, basically, and rebuild the entire building.- David O'Grady

"Just moving from a location that we've been in for the last, pretty much 25 years to go downtown in a location that was much smaller than we were used to and then of course the parking has been a huge issue," he said.

The outdoor clothing supply store relocated to the east end of Water Street until this week,while its permanent home was under reconstruction.

"The building had much more damage than they originally had thought," O'Grady said. "So they had to go right to the studs, basically, and rebuild the entire building."

Smaller location meant less inventory

It's been a rough road for those businesses, many of which had to relocate to other areas of the city.

"For us, obviously going to a smaller location we could stock less inventory than we normally would going through Christmas, so of course the sales were down," O'Grady said.

"It definitely had an impact, for sure," he said.

Alpine Country Lodge spent a year, minus 10 days, at its temporary downtown location, but O'Grady is happy to be back in the new-old home.

"At the end of the day it's going to be a plus, because they have a brand-new building," he said.

Retail space all rented again

As for the rest of the affected Churchill Square business spaces, they will be repopulated in the coming months.

"All the retail space had been rented again," O'Grady said.

"The square is such a unique place, there's so many speciality shops, and it's been here over 50 years," he said.

The damage also forced 60 residents out of the Square's condo complex.

"From my understanding, the condos will be ready June 1," he said.

"It looks to me like that's a stretch, but anyhow that's what they've told us."