PLATTSBURGH — Two days after a devastating fire destroyed much of his business, Comfort Inn co-owner Terry Meron is getting into full rebuild mode.

"The first day, people were talking to me and I was in such shock that I didn't even hear what they were saying," Meron said.

"The next day I was able to think, and now it's getting much better."

Meron, 59, has owned the business with partner James Murray since it opened in 1988. Aside from the hotel and accompanying ballrooms, the complex included the Court Club fitness center, Legends Sports Bar and Brew Pub and Perkins Restaurant.

In all, about 200 people worked there.

Saturday's midday fire destroyed a good portion of the building and left those employees out of work.

"This has been one of the most emotional experiences of my life," Meron said.

"We have such caring employees, and we are all hurt by this and trying to figure out how to get out of this."

Placing workers
Meron and his managers are working tirelessly to place as many of his workers as he can in area hotels and restaurants.

"The community has been wonderful in their response," he said.

"So many people have come forward with offers to help. We'll get as many people jobs as we can. It will be hard to lose them, but we don't want their lives interrupted any more than they have to."

Clinton County OneWorkSource is also working to aid employees.

Director John Masella said help will be available to find work, explain unemployment insurance payments, update resumes and explore training.

"We will do everything we can for these employees," Masella said.

FINDING NEW VENUES
Comfort Inn customers are also a priority, Meron said, as his staff has been working to find other places for events that were booked.

Townsend Lee, Meron's property manager, said customers will be contacted in order of their bookings.

"We're talking to the customers that have events coming up right away, and we will work from there, event by event, but everyone will be contacted," Lee said.

Primelink was in the process of restoring telephone lines for the Comfort Inn, which set up temporary offices on Healey Avenue in space donated by businessman Robert Meyers.

Lee said they are hoping that the Comfort Inn main-line number of 562-2730 will be operating today.

"It's amazing how important communication is in something like this," he said.

The business found a stroke of luck as most of the computers were salvaged, Lee said.

Offers to help pour in
Offers to help from other facilities in the area have been coming in steadily.

"I can't imagine having my wedding planned and then having something like this happening," Theresa Garrow, executive director of the Clinton County ARC, said.

The ARC recently completed a ballroom that holds up to 350 people to use mostly as a training facility for clients who want to work in the hospitality industry.

The ARC Board of Directors decided to also open the facility to the public for rent.

"We feel very badly for Terry (Meron) and the folks at the Comfort Inn, and we will do whatever we can to help," Garrow said.

Garrow said her office has been receiving calls from Comfort Inn customers looking for an alternate site.

The facility does not have a liquor license but is working to get one soon. There is a working kitchen, but caterers are welcome as well.

The Rainbow Wedding and Banquet Hall in Altona has also been flooded with calls.

"We've covered one event for this Friday, and we have a few others pending," owner Peck Sample said.

The Rainbow has two rooms that can hold up to 150 and 175 people respectively, and its main ballroom can hold as many as 600 to 700 people.

Sample said he has parties booked into 2011 but is still able to handle many events.

"In December, a lot of people are looking for places to have Christmas parties, and we can help with that," he said.

"I feel bad for Terry. His place was a big asset to the community."

The Plattsburgh YMCA has also offered to honor Court Club memberships for the remainder of November.

Talking about rebuilding
Meron said he has already had discussions with an architect about rebuilding.

"We are going to use more steel and concrete this time, which will make it better and will even go faster in construction."

While the lobby area, Court Club and pool area, and Legends bar were destroyed, Meron said surprisingly there are portions of the building that escaped serious damage.

"If we had a lobby we could rent hotel rooms tomorrow. That area did not get hurt."

"The main ballroom, if we swept the floor we could have an event in there tomorrow."

The ballroom was built in an area that used to be an outdoor courtyard. Meron said the construction of the facility basically entombed it from the rest of the building, keeping it safe from the fire.

Perkins Restaurant also went largely untouched, but a portion of the restaurant shares the same roof as Legends, which was destroyed.

"Hopefully we can get some things done quickly, but the lobby area will take much more substantial construction," Meron said.

No cause yet
Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said Monday that a cause of the fire had yet to be determined.

County investigators were joined by state investigators to sort through the rubble, looking for clues.

"A fire investigation typically is a long and scientific process," Day said.

"We basically look for all possible causes and eliminate them one by one."

Day said there were propane tanks on site, but they were underground, and firefighters took quick action to shut them off.

The area that stores the pool chemicals also was not damaged.


E-mail Joe LoTemplio at: jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com