Business Profiles
York Beach: We'll be open for Memorial Day Weekend or sooner
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Railroad Avenue in York Beach became a waterway this past weekend as the beach's business district flooded from Ellis Park back to York's Wild Kingdom. Despite the damage to their shops, local business owners say they will be open as planned for the 2006 season on Memorial Day Weekend.
Photo by Steve Rasche
That's because, as flood waters crested at the deck of his York Beach restaurant, the local resident told his friends, fellow business owners and public safety officials he would be weathering the storm.
"This is my ship, and I'm not leaving my ship," Lipton said Sunday afternoon, standing in his dining room and looking out into what was once Ellis Park and now appeared to be just another part of the foaming gray Atlantic beyond.
And while Lipton talked of keeping his business afloat in the midst of a storm that Police Chief Douglas Bracy has described as a "500-year" event, he was not the only business owner to express that sentiment.
Right next door, Patrick Simpson, owner of Gabby Sullivan's, was also staying at the helm - joining forces with his fellow business owners to offer free meals to stranded guests, safety personnel and one another as the storm raged on during the first days of the week.
Inn on the Blues, Gabby Sullivan's, the historic Goldenrod, Sweet Josie's, The Little Bull, Whispering Sands, The Candy Corner and virtually every York Beach business was hit by the storm to varying degrees. In spite of that, though, the business owners are hard at work battening down the hatches, drying out and getting ready to open for the season by Memorial Day Weekend - or sooner.
Bracy, like many of the town's emergency personnel, spent extensive time in the beach assisting residents and business owners and assessing the damage as the water levels rose.
"They want to get the message out we'll be open Memorial Day," Bracy said. "The business owners are a hearty bunch and they will be there."
Despite the scenes of waters flowing through York Beach, portions of the area were beginning to dry out as of Tuesday morning. Lipton said he will be open for business on Thursday, with Simpson set to open Friday night.
"I am determined to open. I'm open Thursday. I've had it," Lipton said, adding he has been on the phone continually with suppliers and service companies to get his restaurant back into business.
Although many business owners could not be reached by phone with busy lines and no regular business hours prior to the start of the season, Lipton and Bracy said the goal is similar across the beach.
In the midst of the storm on Sunday, Lipton had described rescue boats and kayaks passing his business, cars immersed in water, dumpsters and propane tanks floating by and what he called a "Katrina-like" landscape in York Beach.
Bracy said the town is working with the York County and Maine Emergency Management Agencies with an eye toward helping the York Beach business district.
"They're concerned about it. They're concerned for the business people. We're going to be open Memorial Day, no matter what," Bracy said. "York Beach is afloat, but it will drain and we will have it open by Memorial Day and, hopefully, have a good summer in spite of all this."
Simpson said he is counting on it.
"I still see it to be an incredibly strong season," he said, describing the willingness of beach businesses and residents to work together during the emergency. "There's a lot that I think won't be able to be open for this weekend, but we're trying to band together."
Gov. John Baldacci was in town on Monday with state officials, meeting with business owners and assessing the damage to the town.
Town Manager Rob Yandow noted that Maine Small Business Administration officials are expected to begin working with local business owners whose properties were damaged in the floods.
"To those of you who have sustained damage and loss of property, our thoughts are certainly with you," Selectmen Chairman David Marshall said at the town's informational hearing Monday night.
While Federal Emergency Management Agency funding is expected to be available once a federal declaration regarding the damage is announced, Bracy cautioned that it would take time before the town can be assessed for those damages at that level.
"Katrina and Florida and all these different emergencies they've been facing have stretched their assessment forces very, very thin," he said.
Yandow said there are some concerns with projected rains and thunderstorms in the days ahead, but that business owners have confirmed that the water in York Beach has continued to recede.
While town and state officials have pledged their support for the York Beach businesses, Simpson, Lipton and Bracy all described the sense of community in the midst of a weather emergency.
"Obviously a lot of us have banded together to help out those who didn't fare as well as we did," Simpson said. "We've been serving a total of 80 meals a day free to anyone who happens to be around here."
And, he said, businesses are trying to help each other with storage of perishable goods as the effort to reopen continues.
Lipton voiced a hope held by many York Beach business owners: that the town will not forget their shops and eateries when the waters do subside.
"We need the help down here," Lipton said. "If they want to help out the beach at all, come down here and spend money at your local businesses."
Associate Editor Jennifer L. Saunders can be reached via e-mail at jsaunders@yorkindependent.net.
