On the Friday evening after Christmas, Tracks, the bar downstairs at The Pitcher Inn, bustled with customers chatting merrily around the bar and lounging on couches by the fireplace. Only a keen eye would note the changes to the scenery since the summer, the small differences that betray the extensive damage sustained from the floodwaters of Irene.
Irene flood waters push through the doors of Tracks at the Pitcher Inn. Photo: Jeff Burnett
The plaster walls, once stark white, are now warmly tinted. The heavy wood couches and chairs are the same, save slightly different upholstery. The only change to the mural of the three peaks of the Mad River Valley, repainted by the original artist Candy Barr, is the streak of sunset orange across the skyline. It’s the accuracy and of the reconstruction, according to the inn’s general manager Ari Sadri, that attests to the talent and hard work of the local contractors who helped to put it all back together.
Tracks re-opened in early December after being shut for more than three months following Hurricane Irene, when floodwaters chest deep washed through the basement level of the inn.
Just past noon on the day of the flood, Sadri looked down at the brook, running about five feet below the patio retaining wall and went for a lunch break. Within 45 minutes, the waters rose those five feet and continued to rise at a rate of one foot per 10 minutes, eventually bursting through the twin French doors from the patio into Tracks.
Floodwaters overflowing into the back garden ran like a waterfall down the staircase to the patio, converging with the high river to form an eddy. “There was enough current coming through here that our 1,600-pound antique pool table was floating around the game room like it was made of balsa wood,” said Sadri.
The flood left about three feet of dirt and gravel on the patio and over a foot of muck and sludge in Tracks. The high waters not only damaged the bar, they paralyzed the inn, damaging the boiler and electrical systems, sound and lighting panels, the elevator and commercial refrigeration and laundry assets.
On the morning after the flood, friends and neighbors started showing up with buckets and shovels. About 40 volunteers helped to remove six and a half dump trucks of debris from the lower floor of the inn on the first day of the recovery.
Sadri decided early on to hire local contractors for the reconstruction. “It made sense to make sure if there was work to be had, it went locally,” said Sadri. “Locals built this place, and we’d like to keep the rebuild local.”
Sadri hired general contractor Matt Groom early in the afternoon following the flood and encouraged him to use as much local talent as possible. Two people logged a total of 80 hours scrubbing, pressure washing and sanitizing the stone fireplace.
“I have to say, the guys that we hired took heroic measures to get us rebuilt,” said Sadri. The Pitcher Inn re-opened its doors to the public three weeks after the flood.
Reconstruction will continue into the spring of 2012. There is still extensive exterior work to be done on the patio and south stairway, which were undermined by floodwaters.
However, the re-opening of Tracks marks a significant step in recovering from the flood. Since re-opening in early December, the downstairs bar has stayed busy, Sadri reported, in part due to a busy Christmas week; in part, the loyalty of local customers.
{loadnavigation}
