Jim Fly, the co-owner of “A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare,” remembers the fire at the Missouri Theatre complex that shut down his business on February 19, 2011.

“It quickly became an all-consuming blaze, a four-alarm fire,” Fly says.  “They had all the fire trucks in the city here basically.”

 

“In order to save the Missouri Theatre, which is an absolute architectural treasure in this city, they poured thousands of gallons of water on top of that fire, and it all came cascading down into our space. It was a complete loss.”

Last weekend, as part of the “Better Block Party” at Felix Street Square, A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare reopened, 86 weeks after the fire. It was the last of about half a dozen businesses and arts-related offices to reopen.

The fire started in a costume-storage area used by the Robidoux Resident Theatre. RRT’s president Andy Bramlage says they lost all of their costumes in the fire, and have for the most part built new costumes for each of their performances since. The storage area was located directly above Fly’s business.

“Except for the RRT costume storage area, we probably suffered more damage than any other business on the block,” Fly said. “Because of that, it’s taken a long time to renovate the space and get back into business.”

Fly tells us City Hall has been a big help in that nearly two-year effort.

“Very cooperative. Absolutely. The city bent over backwards, they’re very happy to have us here, and they’ve met every one of our requests.”

At his Web site, Fly describes the business as a “Natural Market.”

 

Located at 112 South 8th Street, A to Z’s Fresh Air Fare offers organic baked goods and free-range organic ground beef as well as other healthy foods and health supplements. Their Web site is located at http://www.azfreshairfare.com.