Here is a breakdown of damages and plans to re-open businesses: Goss Home Furnishing, John Goss estimates his loss at from $75,000 to $100,000 including stock. Goss plans to re-open his business at another location but he has not found another site. He said he will announce later an office where he may take care of accounts receivable. Goss said he was able to salvage his accounts receivable from the store before it was burned. He has not been able to retrieve Monday’s receipts. Goss’s estimate does not include the cost of the building which along with Kay’s is owned by General Shoe Co. in Nashville, Tenn.
Gene Cox estimated a loss of $200,000 which includes the building which he owned. “It’s all lost. At the present time, I don’t have the slightest idea what I’ll do concerning rebuilding except that I plan to come back in some way,” Cox said. Cox said he plans to re-open at the old Bargain Center building next to the Bank of Marion. The building is owned by the bank. Cox’s store appears the least hurt of the stores on the block but nothing is salvageable. He said he spent from $25,000 to $30,000 in his recent remodeling of the store. Cox was able to salvage his records. Cox says an office to handle accounts receivable has been set up at his warehouse east across the lot from Bracy’s parking lot.
Goss also was able to salvage about $25,000 in air conditioners, washers, dryers and water heaters from a small warehouse in the south end of the block of buildings. Bearings Service Co. retrieved all their records and is now maintaining an office at 505 N. Market St. Farley’s Barber Shop – William Farley says his loss is about $2,500 which includes two barber chairs, five large mirrors, and several waiting chairs. Marion Insurance Agency – The wall of the building which houses offices for three Butlers – Bill, Bob and their father, Homer, fell when the south wall of Bearings Service Co. building fell into it. Bill Butler estimated a $5,000 damage to the building.
Other businesses which did not catch fire but were slightly damaged by heat from the fire are: Koeneman Agency, 111 S. Market – Ed Finnegan said damage to the building was about $2,500. The heat cracked plate glass windows and blistered the surface of the building.
The buildings owned by Mrs. Virginia Dunston including Dr. Don Ripley’s old office at 108 S. Market St.; Vesta Blake Fashions, 106 S. Market St.; Singer Sewing Co., 104 S. Market; LaSusa’s Shoe Shop, 102 S. Market, were blistered by the heat and the plate glass windows were cracked. A construction official estimated that Mrs. Dunston’s loss is about $1,100. He said the aluminum casings for the windows were buckled and the aluminum element burned out of the aluminum alloy. Workers were busy today breaking the cracked windows out to prepare them for replacement.
The Dunston Building owned by the Norman Estate was damaged to about $150 including cracked or broken window panes plus one plate-glass show window. This building is where Wilhite’s Shoes is located. The wall of the building is blistered, Robert A. Norman said today. He believes the bulging wall may have been caused by the falling of Goss’s building across Market Street. A Daily Republican employee’s auto was slightly damaged when volunteers broke open the vent of the window to unlock the auto to move it.
Two other Republican employee’s autos were moved from the parking lot to make room for a fire truck to move in near the east wall of Cox’s store. The two autos were unlocked so there was no damage. Farley said a “couple” of persons have offered to sell or rent him space for another barber shop but he has not decided what to do. Sam Barbaro, owner of South Side Tavern suffered a heart attack and was taken to the hospital and therefore could not be interviewed. It was reported that all equipment was removed from the Lampley Electronics building.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )