Photos by Matt Emmons/The Deleware Gazette
Story by Todd Shockley/The Deleware Gazette

The owner of Bun’s restaurant vows to rebuild the Delaware landmark.

Vasili Konstantinidis has spoken with area construction contractors, who are working on an estimate - expected to exceed $1 million - to rebuild the West Winter Street restaurant and bakery, which was established in 1864.

Konstantinidis, who has owned Bun’s the last four years, said he was touched by the community’s support. "People see me. They embrace me and are so supportive at this difficult time of my life and my family’s," he said.

"And that gives me a lot of strength to go on with building as soon as possible," he said.

Konstantinidis owns the entire building - including The Stitch Stops Here, Rutherford’s Books and the west-end parking lot - doesn’t know how long the rebuilding will take.

The city of Delaware has offered to pay for an architect, who Konstantinidis said is already on the job, to ease the rebuilding process along. County authorities as well as the city’s engineer and building inspector also contacted the owner Monday.

Konstantinidis said the building’s skeleton should be saved, but the restaurant’s interior, which included a banquet room on the second floor, is a clean slate ‹ nothing of the old-time flavor can be saved.

Konstantinidis was unsure this morning to what degree he would recreate the original architecture, adding that he had already upgraded Bun’s restrooms and lobby.

A number of factors will govern the rebuilding, Konstantinidis said. "I’m attached to the way it looked."

However, the Delaware Fire Department suggests damage to the building and restaurant - both insured ‹ would require more than an interior refurbishing. Many vital parts of the two-story brick building may be beyond repair, said Delaware Fire Capt. Jim Oberle.

When firefighters got to the blaze just after 6:22 a.m., they were already worried the front wall might fall down, Oberle said. By 3 p.m., an intense fire was subdued, but the dining and baking areas ‹ the entire restaurant ‹ were destroyed, most of the roof had fallen and 1 million gallons of water had soaked, then frozen, in and around the building, Oberle said.

At first the city wanted to tear the front brick wall down, Konstantinidis said, but backed off to save a piece of history.

City Manager Tom Homan said the city, is obligated to support Bun’s efforts. "It would be great because you associate a number of things with the city and Bun’s is a major part of that. We hope they rebuild."

Area officials were pleased by news of Bun’s rebuilding.

The Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce, however, worries about downtown Delaware’s vitality in the meantime. "I think it strikes at the heart of the community," said Executive Director Charlotte Joseph "It will have a profound impact on downtown and particularly those stores in its immediate vicinity. But I’m almost more concerned about the emotional loss.

"It was for so many of us an extension of our living rooms. We all had our favorite tables and knew the waitresses," she said.