On Jan. 24, The Bakery announced it would be closed for a couple of days due to flooding. Almost a month later, the business has yet to open its doors.
A frozen pipe burst in the walls, causing the flood, which led to 37,000 gallons of water surging into the building. This completely submerged the basement and caused extensive damage to the floors and walls of the establishment. It also destroyed the cabinets and bakery cases.
“Everything in our basement had to get thrown away. All of our fridges, all of our backup products, all of our cake supplies, everything,” manager of The Bakery and fifth-year digital media management major Lia Lovizio said.
The Bakery opened its doors in 1981 and is currently owned by Dawn Borrello. It is known as a staple in the New Paltz community, hosting community events, craft fairs and open mics. It sells baked goods, artisanal drinks and more. “It’s sad that it happened to a piece of the New Paltz community because so many people loved it there,” Lovizio said.
“[It’s been] nice to hear people talk about how much the place meant to them,” she said. “Or people who worked there 20 years ago being like, ‘Oh, that’s so sad, that was my first job’ or ‘That was my daughter’s first job.’ It has so much history in this town, and it’s cool to hear people talk about this place in such a positive way.”
Customers on The Bakery’s Facebook page filled the comments with the support of locals waiting for the place to recover. The Bakery’s SquareSpace has been updated, saying they are closed until further notice.
The residents of New Paltz are not the only ones waiting for The Bakery to reopen. “[The employees are] all just bored,” Lovizio said. “We all realized how much we actually loved our jobs, and how we had built a little community. I miss the regulars, and I even miss the annoying customers who aren’t nice.”
“We’re all impatient. We’re all just wanting to get back to work, wanting things to get back to normal. Everything takes time. We’re all just kind of twiddling our thumbs and hoping that it comes soon,” she said.
The Bakery is set to reopen at the end of March, said Lovizio. The past month has been dedicated to cleaning up and salvaging damaged materials, and rebuilding is set to begin this week.
Despite the temporary closure, The Bakery has not lost hope, “I know that we’re planning on coming out with new drink specials, new food specials and the bakers are planning on doing some new things,” Lovizio said. “We want to kind of come back with a bang, and maybe have a ribbon cutting ceremony.”