A fundraiser for Latitude 43 owner Julie Bagley has raised nearly $9,000 to help cover rebuilding expenses and lost income after a downtown Canandaigua fire shut the restaurant days after its grand opening.
The GoFundMe campaign, organized by Marcye Bears, had received $8,875 from 74 donations toward a $14,000 goal as of Oct. 16.
Bears said the financial setback extends beyond repairing the restaurant. Bagley and her team have lost income during a closure with no clear end date, and insurance is expected to cover only about a quarter of what Bagley invested.
Donations will help with those expenses and support the team while the business remains closed, according to the campaign.
Bagley purchased the Canandaigua bar only a few months ago and put her savings into developing Latitude 43, Bears wrote. The business celebrated its grand opening Thursday, Oct. 8. Early Sunday, fire damaged the building at 5 Beeman St.
The restaurant also represented a personal milestone for Bagley. According to the fundraiser, she was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma three years ago and is now in remission after treatment. Opening Latitude 43 gave her a chance to pursue a longtime ambition after that experience.
“We were there to celebrate with Julie on opening night,” Bears wrote. “Let’s be there for her now.”
Bagley told 13WHAM TV that she hopes to reopen in Canandaigua, preferably at the same location.
“We are determined to stay in the Canandaigua area,” she told the station.
The restaurant sustained extensive smoke and water damage, Bagley told 13WHAM TV. She said closed fire doors separating the service area from the kitchen helped keep fire out of the kitchen.
As previously reported, firefighters were dispatched around 2:47 a.m. Oct. 11 after smoke was reported coming from an apartment in the four-story building.
Heavy smoke prompted a response that escalated to three alarms. Residents were evacuated from apartments above the commercial space, and no injuries were reported.
The fire’s cause and origin remained under investigation in the Fire Department’s initial account. A reopening timeline for Latitude 43 has not been announced.
Tap here to see the fundraiser happening on GoFundMe.
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