What We Know: A Springfield restaurant damaged by flash flooding earlier this summer is getting ready to welcome customers back.
Vine Pairings at Creekside, near Sequiota Park, plans to reopen after Labor Day.
What It Means: Owner Denise Allsop and her son Austin opened the restaurant last October. Allsop says they picked the location because of its peaceful setting along the creek.
But on June 8, that same creek became a major problem.
Neighbors texted Allsop that morning to tell her the building was flooding. By the time she and her son arrived, water had already broken through a window.
Inside, there was more than three feet of water, mud, and broken glass. Tables and chairs were floating, and bottles of wine had been smashed.
About a third of the restaurant’s original seating was eventually recovered.
Others volunteered to help clean up. Allsop says she would post workdays on social media, and sometimes people she’d never met — including people who had never visited the restaurant — would show up ready to help.
The rebuilding involved more than cleaning out mud.
What’s Next: After nearly three months of cleanup, repairs and plenty of help from the community, Vine Pairings at Creekside is preparing for its comeback.
The restaurant plans to reopen after Labor Day.
(Filed photo, courtesy of Envato Elements)