The Golden Owl bookstore in New London, Conn., is planning to reopen sometime this fall after suffering flood damage earlier this month that ruined ceilings, floors, and walls while also damaging furniture, books, and antiques, the Day reported.
Owner Wendy Vincent said that while the store was hosting a book club, the flood started in an upstairs sprinkler system on September 7, and it took firefighters about 40 minutes to turn off the water, which started pouring through the ceiling onto a 19th century piano often used at events.
"That was the most heartbreaking part," Vincent said. "Within a matter of 15 minutes, we were standing in 8 inches of water." She added that the water also damaged some of the shop's antique books and furniture. The piano has been sent to a restoration company in the hopes it can be saved.
While the Golden Owl was covered by insurance, it "was devastated, temporarily putting an end to one of the bright lights in downtown where musicians, poets, writers and gardeners loved to congregate," the Day noted.
"Post-COVID, people were really craving that connection again," said Vincent, who opened the bookstore two years ago and thinks the shop will be closed for at least a month. "The most overwhelming part has been the community support. There's been so much outreach among the community asking if they can help and saying how much the Golden Owl means to them.... There's been a lot of tears in the last couple of weeks. We've decided to say 'OK, we can't change what's happened, but we can keep going forward.' "