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June 8, 2009

Pittsburg residents help fire victim restore damaged business

By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

PITTSBURG, Kan. — A longtime Pittsburg chiropractor believes a fire that destroyed his practice in April was a blessing in disguise.

Initial shock and disbelief have given way to gratitude for the outpouring of support from the community, said Dr. Richard Ellis.

He opened his office in July 1988 in a shopping center in the 2600 block of North Broadway. On Easter Sunday, he learned that he’d lost about everything in an early morning fire, allegedly set to cover up a break-in. Four other businesses — AT&T; Cellular World, E-Z Payday Loans, Gameco and Manpower Temporary Service — also were destroyed.

“I was in Overland Park at my wife’s parents getting ready to go to an early Easter service when I got the call,” Ellis said. “I was shocked, in disbelief, and because I was up there and not down here, it was a bit surreal.”

When he returned to Pittsburg, Ellis drove straight to the office. He was greeted by state fire marshals and investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Everything was gone, they said, except old file cabinets with patient records that had only minor damage.

“I started looking for a new location on Monday, and I was back in business by Friday,” he said.

Local businessman Ray Constantini offered him a vacant office in the Colonade Building in the 600 block of North Broadway, and family members came through with equipment.

“My dad is a chiropractor in Spring Hill, and he immediately rented a van and put exam tables in it to send down to me,” Ellis said. “Commerce Bank, where my wife has worked for about 18 years, donated chairs and desks. I had so many calls from friends and from patients, from people in the community offering support ... I’ve been very blessed.”

The fire also destroyed all of the sports memorabilia Ellis had collected and displayed at the office, and the artwork and small gifts his children and patients had given him throughout the years.

“A lot of it had been with me since I opened my doors 20 years ago,” he said. In fact, the items had become such a part of his practice that patients who visited him in the wake of the fire recalled those things first.

“They remembered a goose made of beans and handprints on the wall that my son, Tanner, made in kindergarten, and he’s going to be a freshman in high school,” Ellis said.

Friends Kayla and Mike Joy visited with their daughter, Olivia, about doing something to decorate the new office. That spurred Olivia and Ellis’ daughter, Karlie, along with their fourth-grade classmates, to create bold, bright artwork for the walls and doors.

It was a touching gesture, Ellis said.

He hasn’t decided whether the new office will be his permanent location, but if he does move, he said the fourth-graders’ artwork will go with him and “go right back up.”

“What they did … what that class did … the support I’ve gotten is overwhelming,” Ellis said. “I’ve learned that it’s not the walls and carpet that make a business wonderful.”

Three of the other businesses have found new locations. AT&T; Cellular and E-Z Payday Loans are now in a building to the south of their former site, and Manpower relocated north to Parkview. Gameco moved its inventory to its store at Meadowbrook Mall.





Charged

James Dale Spears, 21, and Andrew James Butler, 19, both of Pittsburg, were charged April 14 with five counts of felony arson and two counts of felony non-residential burglary.

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