The realities of rebuilding a modernized, 10,000-square-foot, two-story grocery store in the heart of downtown Half Moon Bay have set in - but at least ground was broken by that Pumpkin Fest deadline.
Ground was broken Monday, in fact - and now, that earlier, hopeful prediction has been replaced by a more exciting prospect.
 HMB mayor Dennis Coleman and Cunha's store owner Bev Ashcraft break ground Monday. Contractor Bruce Turner looks on. |
"I really didn't think it was going to happen, until we broke ground," Ashcraft said of the arduous four-month process leading up to the store's groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon.
"Every day was something new," she said. "It seemed like it was always something."
Approximately six weeks ago, according to Ashcraft, all of the progress made toward getting the store rebuilt came to a screeching halt when she was informed that she would need to get all of the interior designs finished before the rebuilding effort could proceed.
"We met with 20 different stores," she said.
In her travels to find the best way to modernize the store without losing some of the elements unique to the old Cunha's, Ashcraft found a wide range of designs.
"Some of them had pillars right in the middle of the aisles," she said.
But with interior and exterior designs approved by the city, the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District and San Mateo County Environmental Health, Ashcraft said the hard part - what caused her to constantly second-guess her decision to rebuild, she said - is over. The rebuilding has begun.
Everyone involved has been incredibly cooperative, Ashcraft said.
While Ashcraft said the hard part is now behind her, the hard part is just starting for local contractor Bruce Turner, whose firm, TurnerBuilt, won the contract to rebuild the store.
While thrilled to have the chance to rebuild the store, Turner said his firm has a tough road ahead, given the tight six- to seven-month deadline under which they must finish construction.
"It's realistic but unreasonable," he said. "We're dealing with a very tight time frame.
"We're going to pull it off, though. Since day one, my commitment has been to see it get rebuilt as quickly as possible."
According to Mike Bredenbeck, a lawyer who has advised Ashcraft through the rebuilding process, insurance from the fire will pay for approximately 90 percent of the project, with Ashcraft picking up the difference.
"But we are at the insurance limit," he said, so any delays or additional requirements would put the project in peril. "The contract can be terminated at any point if there are any new requirements."
Turner and his team of subcontractors started work Friday morning. They've been firmly instructed, according to Bredenbeck, to make it appear as though significant progress has been made by Pumpkin Festival, when thousands will flock to Half Moon Bay's downtown.
Turner said he plans to do just that.
"The biggest enemy right now is the weather," Ashcraft said. "We just hope it stays relatively dry, and that it rains at night and not during the daytime."
Once completed, the building will look strikingly similar to its cherished predecessor, according to site plans. The changes include a slightly relocated deli counter, wider aisles, a new elevator and the inclusion of a turret, a facet of the exterior of the original Cunha's building.
And yes, the building will still be pink, if slightly more rose-colored than before.
"We need the bright colors around here when it's always so foggy," Ashcraft said. "I couldn't go with the beiges or anything like that."
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