ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On January 24, a Downtown Escanaba fire killed one man and destroyed two Ludington Street businesses. Neighboring establishments, like outdoor sports shop The Beaten Path, also suffered damage and had to close their doors.
“The night of the fire was one of the most traumatic things I’ve ever been through,” owner Jon Harris said. “Losing your business and your house and all your things all in one shot was a pretty heavy blow.”
Now, Harris says things are slowly beginning to look up. While the back of the building is still under construction, The Beaten Path is finally back open nearly five months after the fire.
“The unknown factor was the toughest part of all of this,” said Harris. “Obviously, I lost my job. I had to pick up some bartending shifts to make some money. Once spring hit, I was pretty much at the mercy of other people’s schedules. A lot of weeks went by when there was no work being done on the building and we didn’t know when things were going to get started.”
Once work did get underway, there was a lot to do.
“We had a structural engineer come down from Houghton and he deemed it good to go,” Harris said. “Pretty much the whole inside was gutted. New ceilings in here, new walls, all new heating ducts. The guys from Servpro of the U.P. were here the day after the fire, and they’ve been here pretty much almost every day. Tons of work to be done. I’m working with pretty much a core of a building right now.”
With most of the inventory damaged by heavy smoke, Harris says it also took some time to restock. Some items were able to be salvaged.
“I actually had a lot of people step up and help,” he said. “I gave people giant contractor bags of clothes and they brought them home and washed them, got most of the smell out. So I’ve got great deals on shirts and hoodies and things like that.”
Harris says his first day back in business was a record-breaker. Despite the ongoing work, he is just glad to be open again.
“It’s nice to look out that window fixing bikes and looking out on beautiful Downtown Escanaba again,” Harris said. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, you know?”
Largely, he says it’s thanks to the support of the community in which he was born and raised.
“Sometimes you question why you do things, like ‘Why did I always stay here?'” said Harris. “This showed me why. I was down at Rosy’s Diner eating and went to pay my bill and they were like, ‘It’s paid for.’ People who didn’t even know who I was were picking up my tab. A friend of mine started a GoFundMe, and that helped me immensely. The bills didn’t stop coming during this entire time, so I could never have opened without the help of everyone in this area.”
As new inventory continues to come in, Harris plans to hold a grand opening in the coming months. Follow The Beaten Path on Facebook for store updates.
