If you look on the right side of each photo, you can see a white roof. That is where our studio is. We are located in the building directly next door to 38 Robbins Street building that burned down. And we are on the second (top) floor. If the fire, which primarily destroyed the top floor of its building, had jumped roofs, it would have been our roof it jumped to. The fire department, however, did an amazing job containing the 3-alarm fire and did not allow it to jump to our roof. And more importantly, no one was hurt. We thanked God that we were spared. And we are still very thankful for all God has done for us over this time. However, we weren't as spared as we initially thought….
The next day, we arrived to this scene:
ServPro showed up almost immediately and began cleaning out our Landlords downstairs. They eventually come up to our Studio & began the drying process. There is also scaffolding almost directly outside our door, down the street and around the corner.
It was then that we started to figure out the reality of our situation. During the fire, the fire department opened our front and back doors for access to the fire. Our studio, complete with our computers that were running and video equipment, filled with smoke. (This was evident when we turned our computer on and it immediately spit smoke.)
Then we found out that at some point during the fire, a piece of the building next door crumbled and fell on our roof, creating a nice-sized hole. Cue the roof full of water from the fire hoses (which is responsible for the fire not spreading to our roof) and the torrential downpours that started about 12 hours after the fire and created a not-so-exotic waterfall in our studio…right on top of our primary light kit. Yup. That continued for about 24 hours. And guess what, you can't repair a hole in the roof while it's raining, or at least that's what we were told. At some point, ServPro did go up and fill it with tar, which created a beautiful mosaic of tar spots on our equipment, furniture and rugs directly under the hold. Guess what, the tar didn't work. The waterfall continued.
This picture shows a closeup of our roof (the white horizontal bar) and the piece of roof next door that crumbled.
This picture shows the bubbles in our paint from the extreme heat of the fire next door. That bucket is catching part of our waterfall.
This is a battery that was next to our light kit. Electronics and water don't mix.
The one thing I remember most about this whole situation was walking into the studio when we were finally allowed in and the smell. The smell! It was a combination of serious smoke, mildew and tar. If you had walked in and smelled that, you would have condemned it right then and there. But we were told we could move back in! Consider the waterfall an added bonus. (Ok, so we weren't really told about the bonus, but you get my point). Luckily, our landlords understood that we couldn't be in there with all of our electronic equipment and a hole in the ceiling. They were having their own issues as well as their business is right below us. But here's the issue...
Now you know that our Studio is where that white roof extends between the burnt building and the Charneys building. See that support beam on our roof? There are a whole bunch of those that are bolted into our roof. Their function? To make sure the building next door does not fall down on our roof. While I appreciate the gesture, those beams are making it impossible for us to move back into our Studio.
We don't ask for much. Higher ceilings so we can light properly. An open floor plan to allow for movement. And a clean, dry space to do a few video shoots. Well, Meatloaf did say 2 out of 3 ain't bad, right? Here's where we are:
1. Per ServPro's instructions, we should replace the rugs & paint. Our Landlord will be doing this for us, but not until the roof no longer leaks (what is the point of a new rug, when the waterfall is still active?).
2. The Landlord is replacing the roof (which, FYI was just replaced 3 weeks before the fire, ironic, huh?). However, they can't do that until those darn support beams are down. You say I should inquire about getting them to support that building in another way? Great idea. However, I already asked and was told there's no other way.
3. The support beams will come down when the building is demolished. So that's my answer, right? Well, here's the question I've been asking since May 16: When will the building be demolished? There's a meeting this Wednesday to discuss. I'm still not holding my breath for answers.
I've been asking this question for seven weeks now. Here is the answer I've been getting since May 16: It should start sometime next week. They must mean the philosophical "next week" (the week we're in is always "this week" - we can never actually be in "next" week), because each week, I'm given the same answer. Here are some of my other favorite answers from various "officials" and people "in the know":
Q: Can we get an update on when the building will be coming down?
A: There was a fire? We haven't been told yet.
A: We can't answer that, you need to talk to the fire inspector.
FYI - Fire inspectors response: we turned that report in WEEKS ago.
A: There's a business in that location?
(NO, we just go there every day to play checkers).
And this was my favorite:
Q: I was wondering who I can talk to that can answer some of my questions about the building that burned down on Robbins St.
A: What, do you rent there for free? You gotta have someone you pay some sort of rent that you can go to with these questions instead of calling me!
*Sigh* I guess I'll have to see what answers Wednesday brings me. At least I feel like something may be happening. A meeting is something, right?
Another part of this whole situation that I love is the hubbub online of Capone's Restaurant being condemned, closed, burned down, etc. There was a Capone's banner on the building that burned. That's because Capone's USED TO be in that spot. However, now they are in the same building as us, right below us, sharing our frustration with SEVEN weeks and no answers. However, they are open, and operating in part of their space. The building was not condemned (otherwise we would not be talking about getting back in upstairs). The damage was superficial…but enough to keep us out until a time when repairs can be made.
We need to get back into our Studio. There is no temporary space that can fulfill all of our needs. Our Studio is unique, and perfect for us. If the township, building owners, or anyone else with a say would only give us an approximate timeline, we could do what we need to do. But each week, we sit in our temporary office location contemplating moving into somewhere that better accommodates us. But when we are told we should have answers "next week," we decide to wait it out a few more days…only to be disappointed again with non-answers and fingers pointed in different directions.
We are not completely down, our mobile studio has been bustling with work and our editing team has been keeping up with deadlines. But new work is hard to bring in when we're not operating at 100% and we are tired of the games. We are ready to settle back into our new & improved studio and continue GROWING our business…because, of course, we are in business to GROW, not sit back and wait. But first, let's get this "Landmark Toms River Building" as an APP article calls it, down.
*****UPDATE*****
We received information that demolition will take place once permit is approved…sometime after July 19. It will take 1-2 weeks (if all goes well), during which time we are not allowed in our studio. After that our landlord will be able to do the repairs necessary to get us back in there. Based on all of that, it's looking like we'll be back in mid to late August. Yay for answers, but it's disappointing to have missed our entire first summer in Downtown Toms River.
Thanks to everyone that has reached out with support, words of encouragement and advice! We truly appreciate it all!
No comments:
Post a Comment