By CJ Vetter
KYLE - The future of Papa Jacks is up in the air.
After nearly half a year, owner Greg Henry has started the process of clearing the building of debris and salvaging what remains at the downtown Kyle establishment that was destroyed by fire Jan. 27.
The process has been a long time coming, and although the fire department’s investigation concluded soon after the incident, an investigation by the insurance company prevented work from beginning sooner.
“From Jan. 27 to three weeks ago, there was nothing we could do. The fire marshal concluded the investigation, but our insurance company didn't,” Henry said. “The next step is to bring in an engineer to inspect the walls, foundation, and everything.”
Once the evaluation of the building is completed, Henry says they will start to decide what to do with the property. While nothing has been settled yet, Henry is currently looking at a variety of options, including possibly purchasing the adjacent building, or renovating the property into a multi-story bar, alongside other possibilities.
“I don't know if, when we open up, it'll be called Papa Jacks, since I have several restaurants open to lease it out,” Henry said. “Right now, we're keeping our head down and cleaning the property.”
While the debris removal is currently ongoing, and will be followed by inspections of the building, there is no set date for when any option will be chosen, or when anything will open. However, Henry has said that they will be trying to settle on a decision as soon as possible.
"We're going to move as quickly as we can, but there's a lot of moving parts," Henry said.
