HILLSBORO, Ore. — Businesses in downtown Hillsboro are gradually starting to reopen more than two months after a deadly arson fire forced them to close.
Venetian Hillsboro is celebrating its grand reopening this week. The restaurant and event venue is right next door to the Weil Arcade building where the fire started on East Main Street on Jan. 2.
Several businesses in the building were destroyed when the building's roof collapsed. One person's remains were found in the wreckage, leading to murder charges for the arson suspect.
"We were just finishing this ballroom, getting it ready to open. Had our first event planned for Valentine's Day, then the fire happened," said Venetian owner John Lee. "The whole street was closed for a month. I mean, we had to shut down because you could barely get to our building."
Lee said on top of smoke damage in the space, the street closure forced them to shut down for two months.
Other business like, La Mixteca Oaxaca, were also impacted by the fire and street closure. The Mexican restaurant is located across the street from the Weil Arcade building.
"We're happy that they finally got the street back opened so that people can come, park in front and come visit us," said Lucia Santiago, whose parents own the restaurant.
The restaurant had only been open for about six months before the fire.
"Business was really slow, so we didn't make as much as we did before. So we actually lost one of our spaces," said Santiago. "We couldn't afford the rent for it, so we got evicted."
The family started a GoFundMe to help save the business.
After weeks of recovery and preparation, business owners are hopeful the stretch of downtown Hillsboro on East Main Street will return to normalcy.
"It's going to be a great time," Lee said. "We're going to put the building through its paces again and see how it does, but I suspect it will be amazing."