A day after fire destroyed the historic Park Theatre Mall in downtown Estes Park, neighboring businesses opened their doors to customers and streets were once again open to traffic.
“It’s amazing how resilient our business owners are,” town spokeswoman Suzy Blackhurst said Tuesday.
Elkhorn Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare, was reopened Tuesday.
Traffic had been allowed back on feeder streets late Monday.
An estimate on the cost of the blaze, which leveled all 13 businesses in the mall and damaged nearby stores, probably won’t be released until today, Blackhurst said.
But business owners seem confident they will get back to normal operations sooner than later, she said.
“We are looking forward to the rest of the fall season, as well as the rest of the holiday season,” Blackhurst said.
Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives activated its National Response Team to investigate the fire, an agency official said Tuesday.
The 21-person team was scheduled to begin its investigation today, according to Denver ATF spokesman Craig Roegner.
The team includes veteran agents with expertise in determining the origin and cause of fires, as well as forensic chemists and explosives experts.
Accelerant-detection dogs will be available if needed, Roegner said.
Roegner said the team will join six Denver-based ATF agents who already are in Estes Park investigating the blaze, which was first reported at 6:19 a.m. Monday.
The fire gutted the historic downtown landmark, which was built in 1914 as a livery stable and carriage house. It was renovated in the 1970s.
Sharon Seeley, the mall’s owner, said Tuesday that she plans to rebuild.
“They are devastated,” she said of her tenants, “as I am. I believe we are family. This is the mall family.”
Seeley also owns the historic Park Theatre, which survived the blaze, and is a partner in Lake Shore Lodge and the Aspen Guest Ranch, both located in Estes Park.
Seeley said she and her husband talked with investigators Monday and that so far, nothing appears to be suspicious.
Seeley said three of the tenants burned out have been in the mall since 1972, when it opened, and two others had been there for at least 20 years. Several others have been there five or six years, Seeley said.
She said that 2009 already was tough for her tenants because of the economic downturn.
“They have been dealing with difficult things,” Seeley said. “They have been working their hearts out.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
