It's been nearly six months since fire tore through The Tobacco Company and it will be a few more months until the popular Shockoe Slip restaurant reopens for business.
"We are hard at work getting it back together. The water damage is what has been the challenge," Tobacco Company marketing representative David Campbell wrote in an email to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
On July 8 around 10 a.m., a three-alarm fire caused by grease build-up in the duct work started in the kitchen area on the first floor of the restaurant and spread to three floors, according to fire officials.
The fire was marked under control two hours later, but not before significant damage was done to the restaurant and its basement-level club space. About 10 employees were working inside the building when the fire occurred, but there were no injuries; one person was treated for smoke inhalation.
Campbell said he's hopeful that repairs will be completed in four months, but there's not an official reopening date yet.
"New flooring have been laid in the Victorian Lounge and Club. Sub flooring has been laid in the second and third floors waiting carpet. A new Art Deco bar is planned for the Victorian Lounge," Campbell said.
The Tobacco Company restaurant opened in a renovated 1860s tobacco warehouse in July 1977 at 1201 E. Cary St. The fired occurred one week shy of the restaurant's 40th anniversary.
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