Old Spaghetti Factory destroyed in Nashville bombing could take a year to rebuild
The bombing comes after businesses had been struggling for months due to coronavirus
The Old Spaghetti Factory in Nashville was one of many businesses destroyed in the Christmas explosion.
“The first thing we checked on was our team members, make sure no one was there,” Old Spaghetti Factory President Dean Griffith told FOX Business’ “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.” “They're very fortunate – no one was injured.”
Griffith said his team then assessed the damage to the building and what needs to be done to get his employees back to work.
“We anticipate it's probably going to take about a year to rebuild the restaurant,” he said.
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Law enforcement officials suspect that the man accused of detonating the bomb in downtown Nashville in the early morning hours of Christmas Day was more intent on causing destruction than fatalities. Friday morning’s explosion damaged dozens of buildings, injured three people and killed the suspect, Anthony Quinn Warner.
The Old Spaghetti Factory’s storefront was destroyed in the blast and Griffith said the stability of the building is now in question.
“We did talk with the landlord and they're going to bring in an engineering team to try to establish whether the building is safe,” he said. “We're hearing Friday we'll be able to actually get onsite and in the building. And until then, we just have our fingers crossed.”
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The explosion on Dec. 25 compounded months of problems for struggling businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our sales are down over 50 percent in Nashville year over year,” Griffith said.
He pointed to his team’s hard work, pushing for to-go and delivery orders while keeping in-restaurant guests safe with spacing and sanitation.
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“We just really are hopeful this vaccine gets going and everyone takes it. And we get to a situation where we can get our guests back in our restaurants,” he said.
Griffith said he also hopes the bombing won’t scare tourists away from visiting Nashville.
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“It's one of those things where this seems like an isolated incident. Nashville's a great town. We've been there since 1980,” he said. “Forty years of doing business there, we haven't seen anything else like this.”
Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones contributed to this article.