Counting The Cost Argonne Commercial Center On The Mend But Many Of Its Businesses Had To Relocate To Recover From Last Year’s Fire

Crews can rebuild the structure at Argonne Commercial Center that an arsonist set on fire a year ago.

But nobody can replace the personal mementos lost in the blaze, or the time that it took for several businesses to bounce back. Some companies never did.

Workers are completing the new building’s shell at 9514 E. Montgomery. The building should open by June 1, said Joe Organick, general manager of Alvin J. Wolff Inc. Realtors, which manages the complex.

But for the dozen businesses that were destroyed or damaged on April 12, 1994, it’s too late. None of them will move back into the building they occupied before.

The multimillion-dollar fire forced at least two companies out of town.

Salesmen covering the Spokane area for Stoneham, Mass.-based A.W. Chesterson now work out of offices in Vancouver, Wash. and Montana.

Pacific Toner Service, based in Roseville, Calif., combined operations with an California office.

Other businesses that were destroyed since have relocated and built their business back up.

“It darn near killed me as far as stress,” said Rusty Turner, manager of Cleveland Technical Center.

After losing about $500,000 in computer and analyzing equipment, the company worked out of a makeshift office at administrative assistant Mary Jo Zimmerman’s one-bedroom apartment.

The three workers planned to use the “dinky little” apartment for a week, Zimmerman said. That week turned into a couple of months.

Cleveland Technical Center, which tests oils, held a grand opening in September at 11607 E. Trent.

But, Turner said, “It’ll never make up for the time lost. There’s some stuff you just don’t get back.”

Zimmerman knows just how that feels. She lost 10 years worth of writing to the flames - her short stories and poems. “That was a real blow.”

Jim Cripe, owner of Outlaw Decoys, also lost irreplaceable items in the fire. He was storing his children’s photographs and other personal belongings at the business.

“All of those got destroyed,” Cripe said. “It took many weeks just to recover emotionally.”

He lost $150,000 in business and equipment and more than $1 million in business interruption, according to his attorneys. The company makes hunting decoys - goose, duck, turkey and owl - and hunting boats.

“We had to start from scratch,” Cripe said. “We moved into my home and we operated with a skeleton crew for six to seven months.”

Now located at 10907 E. Marietta, Outlaw Decoys has 11 employees. And despite the setback, Cripe said business in 1994 was up 10 percent over the prior year.

Spokane Elite Gymnastics, with a new owner and new equipment, opened at 7227 E. Sprague last July.

“We started from nothing,” said owner Tina Paras. About a quarter of the clients stuck with Spokane Elite Gymnastics, she said. The other gymnasts are new.

“A lot of the clients we lost,” Paras said. “If they went somewhere else (after the fire), they didn’t feel it was necessary to uproot and move back.”

Paras said the company hopes to move into a bigger location within the next few months.

Cascade Controls Inc. has been looking for a new location since the fire. “All of our computers and telephones were a total wipeout - they were so full of smoke,” said Ben Ewing, outside sales representative. The company sells motors, motor controls and man-machine interface software.

“As a result of being in this small location, we haven’t been able to bring in (all) the stock,” Ewing said. “Sales have slowed down appreciably.”

Jack Corey-Spokane was one of the few businesses that wasn’t covered by insurance. “We’ve since reconsidered that policy,” salesman and office manager Neil Corey joked wryly.

Fortunately, the company wasn’t destroyed. “Basically,” he said, “the water damage kicked us out.” The company moved to 12015 E. Trent several weeks ago.

Pavedex Inc. moved to Montgomery Business Park within a few weeks, said president Don Meyers. “We were up to speed in about three months.”

Forrest Technical Coatings remained open but moved to Spokane Industrial Park in December.

The paint company sustained some smoke damage, said manager Gene Pratt. But when the building was knocked down before it was rebuilt, the business had to leave.

L&M Precision suffered about $5,000 in damage, said president Ken Logan. “We were spared.”

He and others expressed disappointment in the arsonist’s sentence, which they consider too light.

“It’s a travesty of justice,” Logan said, adding that parts of people’s lives were destroyed “for somebody’s cheap thrill.”

Ewing, of Cascade Controls, agrees. “I think his next 50 years’ salary should have gone to insurance companies,” he said.

Organick said he didn’t know what the total loss of the businesses was, but replacing the building will cost about $1.5 million.

The other two buildings at Argonne Commercial Center also will be improved, Organick said. “We’re planning to upgrade and paint them to freshen the image.”

He said the center hopes to attract similar light industrial tenants to the new building. So far, two of its 15 spaces have been leased.

The new building still won’t have a sprinkler system, he said.

“The problem was the fire was started by a whole pile of boxes” outside the building, Organick said. “I don’t know what you could do to prevent that.”