'Tight knit' downtown Sudbury rallies around smoke-damaged restaurants

A manager of a popular downtown watering hole says it's "awesome" that other businesses are rallying in support around the venue after a fire forced it to shut its doors before the holidays.

An electrical fire shortly before midnight November 27 caused $250,000 in smoke damage to the Irish-themed Peddler's Pub on Cedar Street. Neighbouring sushi restaurant Sapporo Ichibang also shut down due to the smoke damage.

But Dallas French, Peddler's Pub's kitchen manager, said the group of business and restaurant owners are a "tight-knit group of folks."

So tight, French said, that Warm Soup for Warm Hearts, an event organizedby restaurant owners Sue Peters and Deke Zaher for the city's less fortunate, is also asking people to contribute a loonie or toonie towards Peddlers and Sapporo.

"I don't think words can describe it," French said. "It's justreally awesome to see everybody coming together."

French, who has lived downtown on and off for 25 years, said he wasn't surprised by how others threw their support behind the restaurants.

"It's put us out of commission...but on a positive note it's just shown us how much support there really is downtown," he said. "Just in Sudbury in general, not just isolating it to downtown. I mean as a whole the Sudbury is just an awesome city, period."

French said the restaurant expects to reopen in March, 2020.

"Ultimately the circles just become tighter and stronger," French said. "And we're gonna be back better than ever."

But as for now, as crews shuttle out smoke-damaged furniture from the pub, the mood is a little different.

"You can really smell [smoke] but nothing a fresh coat of paint and some new furniture and renovations won't fix," he said.

"We're not the first people on the block this has happened to. Not to say we won't be the last but we'll get through this."