A small, family-owned restaurant in the Jefferson County village of Cape Vincent was destroyed by a fire just three months after it opened last year reopened this week — completely rebuilt by its staff.

What You Need To Know

  • Last summer, the newly opened Channel Marker 243 restaurant in Cape Vincent was destroyed by fire

  • In an effort to continue what they had started, the restaurant's staff agreed to help rebuild, despite many having no construction experience

  • The restaurant this week reopened and staff served their first guests, an emotional day for all

“Initially, this building was a piece of property and we were going to make a restaurant out of it. But now, it's ours. We built it. It's cool,” Channel Marker 243 owner Michael Hazlewood said.

It's been nothing short of spectacular, an emotional week as the owner and staff of Channel Marker 243 finally hosted its grand reopening in Cape Vincent.

“Like, we are family, we're all close in a way that you wouldn't normally be,” Channel Marker 243 server Leha Hoyecki said.

“The heat, the rain, the snow, everything. They've been right here by my side, and they're part of it," Hazelwood said.

Now, Hazelwood's dream of opening this restaurant actually happened this time last year. However, after just three months, tragedy struck.

“It wasn't only devastating to me, but it was devastating to them,” Hazlewood said of his staff.

“I live just a couple blocks up the road, and I waited until it was daylight to come walk down. Like, it was, it was awful,” Hoyecki added.

Everything was destroyed except for the spirit of those who helped open it.

“That same day, we said we're going to rebuild,” Hoyecki said.

However, no one really understood just how literal that word would be. A restaurant staff now out of work and a restaurant owner — with construction experience — leading a crew.

It was not the perfect match.

“I mean, I didn't sign up to do construction. I've been a cook,” Jessica Brown, a cook at Channel Marker 243, said.

“One of the dishwashers was kind of scared of heights, and she wouldn't even get up on the ladder,” Hoyecki added.

But it was the exact pairing the restaurant needed.

“We would kind of, like, joke with her and get her comfortable, and she was up with the nail gun doing the siding on a ladder by two weeks after that,” Hoyecki finished.

“It was very nasty and very, grueling, very hot, very cold, very wet, very everything. They just kept coming back day after day,” Hazlewood added.

After eight months of the staff's grueling work learning on the fly from Hazelwood, the restaurant finally reopened. All the staff members that helped rebuild the restaurant signed beams inside the walls, as a way to commemorate their efforts.

“I’ve been in the trade for 34 years. This is my favorite project ever,” Hazlewood said.

It's a place for the Jefferson County community.

“It smelled as good as it tasted,” one diner said after finishing his meal.