SALT LAKE CITY — About four months after a devastating fire in downtown Salt Lake City, one of the businesses impacted is set to open next month.
The smell of smoke and debris from the fire is now replaced by sawdust at White Horse Spirits and Kitchen on Main Street as crews work to rebuild the inside. Jason LeCates, managing partner at White Horse, said most of the building was intact after the fire, no flames were in their part of the building, and a portion of the roof collapsed.
"It’s the most exciting time,” LeCates said. “Starting to see things come together is really cool.”
They did build a new bar but kept the old signs and have shelves waiting to be filled.
"It’s been kind of a wild ride since August, a lot of ups and downs, but we're excited to come back new and bring back all the great energy, food, drinks and service to Main Street,” said Matt Crandall, director of operations and partner at White Horse and Whiskey Street. "A lot of people have created a lot of memories over the years."
They are also working on getting staff ready for the opening.
"We've reached out to former employees to see who’s interested in coming back. It’s been while, a lot of them have moved on, so we have ads, 'help wanted' ads out,” said LeCates.
The White Horse sign went up again last week, and they plan to open in less than a month.
"It was emotional to lose two, not only one business but two businesses was pretty crazy," said LeCates.
Their other business, Whiskey Street next door, isn’t in as good shape. They are still working on getting permits and dealing with insurance before even thinking about opening up again, but they hhope that seeing White Horse back brings everyone hope.
"We hope that we're the first step of the block trying to heal,” said LeCates. “We know that we're just one component of that. We need to see all of these affected restaurants get open."
They are hoping to be back up and soft open the week of Jan. 19, and then fully open on the 22nd.
