By Anna Rice, News Staff
Property owners reached an agreement that will allow businesses that once stood on St. Peterborough Street in the Fenway, nicknamed Restaurant Row, to rebuild, in a meeting organized by City Council President Michael Ross last month.
A Jan. 6 fire destroyed six restaurants:’ El Pelon Taqueria, Thornton’s Fenway Grill, Greek Isles Restaurant, Rod-Dee II Thai Cuisine and Umi Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar; and a dry cleaner, Bon Cleaners.
Amy Derjue, communications director for Ross, said she was unable to comment on whether’ all the Fenway businesses would return to the building, when they would reopen or why it took so long for an agreement to be reached because of legal constraints.
Property owner Monty Gold also declined to comment.
The fire caused about $5 million in damage and left 71 people unemployed, according to a Jan. 15 report by The News.
Workers lost more than their income, Joe Prestier, a server at Thornton’s Fenway Grill, told The News in January.
‘I was shocked by the whole scenario,’ he said. ‘[Thornton’s] was more than just a means of income, it was very much a community and family.’
Sitti Krajangsart, a chef at Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II, said he felt badly as he wached his workplace burn in January.
‘I worked at the place for more than five years,’ he said. ‘You get connected. Working there every day, mostly, for the past five years. I miss it very much.’
In September, a ‘Revitalizing Peterborough’ block party drew more than 100 attendees to watch the unveiling of a mural created by students from McKinley Preparatory High School, which is located across the street from’ Restaurant Row, to cover up the charred remains of the building. Derjue said the event left Ross determined to do everything he could to restore the neighborhood businesses.
‘He obviously saw the fires put a huge hole in the heart of the Fenway,’ Derjue said. ‘It was a great row of businesses, a place where people met up and interacted with each other.’
Derjue said when Ross found out about the dispute between property owners, he invited them to come to City Hall with their lawyers Nov. 20 to work things out. While they did come to an agreement, it is just the beginning in a long reconstruction project, she added.
Jim Hoben, owner of El Pelon Taqueria, said he was thrilled when he found out he could begin the process of reopening his Mexican restaurant.
‘I just can’t believe Mike Ross got this done,’ Hoben said. ‘He deserves a lot of credit.’
Hoben said he was ‘absolutely’ on board to reopen as soon as possible, but he wasn’t sure when it would be. He said he hoped to reopen in the spring or summer of 2010, and that his space would be a little bigger than before.
Julie Becker, a senior theater major, said she visited El Pelon Taqueria about once a month before the fire.
‘I think it would be great if it returned,’ Becker said. ‘I think it was the best Mexican restaurant around, personally.’
