Quake-Damaged Businesses Face Troubles Together

More than a month after a Dec. 22 magnitude-6.5 earthquake killed two and damaged buildings across this downtown, small businesses here are facing the very real prospect of getting back on their feet soon or not at all.

Some downtown business owners report sales are down 30% to 90% from January of last year. That follows a lost Christmas season when quake-induced closures caused shoppers to go elsewhere and forced restaurateurs and specialty grocers to leave their buildings, only to come back days and weeks later to thousands of dollars’ worth of rotted food.

But many business owners say they are not sitting back and waiting for government to solve their problems. Instead, they are sharing space and rent with displaced firms, throwing a street fair to bring people downtown and giving free help to other businesses.

Barbara MacGregor, owner of the New to You thrift store, plans to rent space to quake-displaced antique dealers and change the whole nature of her store to include more upscale antiques and used furniture.

John Cardinale, owner of Di Raimondos Italian Grocery, is sharing his store with another specialty food store displaced by the earthquake from a red-tagged unreinforced masonry building around the corner.

Such stories of shared pain and shared recovery are unfolding across the core of this city of 26,800.

“Business is slow, but it’s slow for everybody,” Cardinale said. “We all need the [now missing] holiday income, which is what we depend on for the next three months when we hope things begin to pick up. I think everybody is faced with barely holding on for that three months.”

Debbie Wofford and Cindy Claasen, who own All Occasion Party & Gift, put together a recent fair to bring shoppers back downtown. They received donations from across the county. Wofford said they had no choice but to take the initiative.

“We had two zero-dollar days in one week and an $87 day when [usually] we average $800 days this month. We had to do something,” Wofford said. “We had to get the word out that not all of downtown is devastated. And it’s not all closed.”

Though the earthquake was closer to Cambria, an oceanfront city, the force of the quake moved horizontally eastward, causing the most damage in historic Paso Robles, at the northern end of San Luis Obispo County.

Paso Robles residents are reminded of the temblor on a daily basis.

The City Council is expected to hear a proposal Tuesday to demolish the Acorn Building, where two women died, and the Marlow Building across the street. Both unreinforced masonry buildings hold prominent places on the town square and are owned by the Mastagni family.

The city has also warned residents that there will be a water shortage this spring and summer because of a badly damaged water storage tank.

Flamson Middle School had an estimated $13 million in damage to a two-story brick classroom building, and its 860 students are on shortened days until the middle of this month as the state brings in 21 portable classrooms.

The quirkiest leftover from the quake is the massive hole at the bottom in the City Hall parking lot, where a sulfur mud spring opened after the quake.

Though some buildings were seriously damaged, others on the same block -- even right next door -- were untouched by the temblor. The Acorn Building lies in ruins, but next door, the historic Oddfellows Lodge is unscathed.

Home of a bank, a restaurant, a ballroom and an oil company’s headquarters, the Oddfellows Lodge was seismically retrofitted to withstand earthquakes in a $1.5-million project that was completed in June. Its businesses were among the first back in operation after the earthquake.

“I’m confident the building would have come down in the quake if we hadn’t done the retrofitting,” said Jim Saunders, who owns the building with his brother. “There were times when we were bleeding so badly in paying for it, we wondered what in the heck we were doing. Now we know.”

President Bush declared San Luis Obispo County a federal disaster area Jan. 13, freeing up federal funds for disaster loans and relief.

Local agencies believe the county has suffered an estimated $250 million in damage to residences, businesses and governmental buildings.

Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster centers opened at five sites in the county last week. Residents and businesses seeking to make claims can register with FEMA by calling (800) 621-FEMA.

By midweek, FEMA spokesmen estimated, they had granted $2 million for temporary housing and minor repairs. The Small Business Administration gave $1 million in low-interest loans to individuals and businesses.

“There are no grants available for businesses, just loans,” said Karl Whittington, an SBA spokesman.

Though many business owners have registered with FEMA, they say the idea of taking out a loan right now is overwhelming.

Kevin McLaughlin is a co-owner of the Wilmot Market, which has only been open since September. Outside his door one recent morning was a chain-link barrier and giant cranes restoring the upper brick facade of the old Bank of Italy, where bricks rained down Dec. 22.

“We really are already heavily indebted getting in here,” McLaughlin said during one of many recent slow days. He faces a double whammy because he also manages Bistro Laurent, a brick restaurant on the town square that is yellow tagged, allowing only limited occupancy.

But in just one example of the camaraderie in the city’s business community, workers at Bistro Laurent prepare limited meals in the restaurant and then serve them at a local winery in the evening. The winery has offered free space.

“We’ve really had some great support,” McLaughlin said. “People we used to see once a month are coming out to the winery a few times a week to support us.”