What Liebster saw looked nearly identical to the Cunha'sbuilding right before the fire - which was just fine with Liebster. In fact, Liebster called it "a real winner for two reasons."
"First, it allows us to expedite the permitting process," he said.
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Cunha's store burned down in a six-alarm fire May 21.
An all-day benefit concert to help raise money to aid the workers at Cunha's will be held Sunday - it's been dubbed "Phoenix Rising" (see story, Page 1B).
In the weeks following the fire, as the building's skeletal remains hovered over the downtown store site, co-owner Bev Cunha Ashcraft began making plans to rebuild it, and Coastsiders pitched in and contributed more than $200,000 for store employees - and that's not counting any money raised by Sunday's big event.
Ashcraft has reportedly picked Turner to rebuild the store, but neither Turner nor Ashcraft could be reached for comment.
In Thursday's meeting, Turner unveiled preliminary plans that called for a nearly exact replica of the building that burned - with several adjustments to account for updated fire, safety and environmental health codes, as well as new requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"They basically showed us a replacement in kind," Liebster said.
"It looked pretty good to me. If in fact what they showed us is what they submit to the city, that would allow us take it through an administrative process."
Liebster said that, although the plans call for the building's exterior to look the same, the new Cunha's will be based on an entirely new set of architectural plans.
"Getting a new set of plans once every hundred years or so is probably not a bad idea," he said.
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