WINDSOR, Colo.—One good thing came out of the Windsor tornado for business owner Brenda Cummings.
“We have good lighting, a great layout and more usable space than we had before,” said Cummings, owner of Harmony Hand and Physical Therapy, 9299 Eastman Park Drive in Windsor.
The tornado that swept through Weld County the afternoon of May 22, 2008, demolished the building housing Cummings? business and several others on Eastman Park Drive.
The building had to be removed, leaving just the slab, after the roof and walls caved in and the windows were blown out, Cummings said. That meant she could redesign the business with more space and a better floor plan, something her landlord allowed, she said.
“We completely changed the floor plan to make it more efficient as a medical office,” Cummings said. “We did increase the usable space because we had 1,000 square feet of garage, which we didn’t need and turned into clinical space.”
The building, which Cummings shares with a medical clinic, covers 4,000 square feet. While it was being rebuilt, Cummings operated her business from June to December in leased space in one of Kodak?s empty buildings.
“Business did drop in our leased space, which we expected,” Cummings said. “Since we?ve been back in our new building, our business has increased. Our business is at the same level that it was a year ago.”
Harmony Hand and Physical Therapy was one of 65 businesses that suffered damage in the tornado, said Michal Connors, executive director of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce.
Those businesses were located on 31 commercial properties on the east side of town, including one property that housed 29 businesses in an industrial park near Colorado 257 and Garden Drive, Connors said. That property, a single building, is being rebuilt and is almost finished, she said.
“The entire second floor was ripped off,” Connors said. “The whole structure had to be taken to the ground and rebuilt.”
Most of the businesses in the building were temporarily relocated or shared office space with other businesses, she said.
“Very few businesses closed in Windsor,” Connors said. “Windsor is such a wonderful community. Everyone pulled together.”
Immediately after the tornado, Windsor was locked down, said Erich Ehrlich, president of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce and an agent with Renaissance Insurance Group in Windsor.
“Basically, there was no business being conducted,” Ehrlich said.
The next week, businesses reopened, particularly those on the west side of town, Ehrlich said.
“A lot of people got together and helped out the business community,” Ehrlich said. “They cleaned up debris and helped businesses relocate to other facilities. … They contacted their client base and put out information they are still open for business but at a different location.”
The Egg & I Restaurant, 1205 Main St., on the west side of town, sustained hail and water damage but was able to remain open for business except for a half-day closure caused by a power loss.
During the three weeks following the tornado, The Egg & I?s business increased because few restaurants were open, and the volunteers, insurance adjusters and others who were in town needed somewhere to eat, said Jerry Gates, owner of the restaurant.
“It went back to normal after that,” Gates said. As for the town, “Everything is back to normal as much as it can be,” he said.
“Windsor is a good community. They really joined together and helped each other out. It was amazing.”
Businesses along Eastman Park Drive were not so lucky. The tornado hit Mark?s Funeral and Cremation Service, U.S. Lawns, EnviroPest, Digi-Pix Signs and several other businesses in the commercial area.
Mark Long, owner of Mark?s Funeral and Cremation Service, moved to a temporary location from June to January after the tornado bent and twisted the metal frame and knocked down the interior walls of his business, he said.
Long redesigned his business with another 2,000 square feet added to the original 4,000, increasing the size of the chapel and adding a private viewing room.
“We had our biggest year without our funeral home,” Long said, adding that with the new space, “We?re bigger and better than what we were.”
So is Digi-Pix Signs, which changed its name to Royal Sign Co. in January to help with branding, said Tom Brodzinski, co-owner of the business with Linda Nuss.
“We lost our entire building. The shell of the building got ripped off. The roof and walls and contents inside were destroyed,” Brodzinski said.
“A lot of our friends helped us move all of our recoverable supplies out, then moved them back in.”
Brodzinski and Nuss temporarily relocated their business to an empty car dealership in Windsor from May to September, while their landlord rebuilt the building.
“It was pretty grueling, dealing with insurance and replacing all of our materials,” Brodzinski said.
“It stretched us to the max both financially and emotionally.”
Jessica Rogakis, office manager at Garden Valley Veterinary Hospital, 32450 Colorado 257, said some of the equipment and kennels at the hospital were salvageable after the tornado came through the center of the building.
The veterinary hospital was moved temporarily to a barn building on the same property, which first had to be restored, and it remained there until March, when the new building was completed, Rogakis said.
During that time, the business closed for two months, she said.
“The layout changed quite a bit. We added a second floor with an office and break room,” Rogakis said. “That?s one of the good things that came out of the tornado. We were able to change things we didn’t like.”
The new layout added another 1,000 square feet to the original 7,500 square feet, providing more space for the treatment area and allowing for the addition of a reception area in the grooming facility, Rogakis said.
“Business is wonderful. We?re back at what we were before the tornado,” she said.
