Main Street Cafe, a popular restaurant at 920 N. Truman Blvd. in Crystal City, closed July 3 because of structural concerns about the building and will remain closed until it is repaired, the owners said.
The Hodges Family Business LLC owns the restaurant and Melissa Hodges, who’s part of that family, said much is up in the air.
“We’re supposed to meet with insurance Friday,” she said. “We’re closed until repairs can be made.”
On July 3, Main Street Cafe reported on its Facebook page that the business was closing early that day due to “a bad water leak.” Other posts followed in the ensuing days and said the business was to remain closed over the weekend.
“Our building structure has literally moved, and we are not sure it is safe to be in here at this time,” a July 8 post said.
Robert Sullivan, the Crystal City building and planning director, said the building can be repaired, but that decision is up to the business owner and its insurance company.
“The walls supporting the entire structure have moved,” Sullivan said. “I think it can be fixed.”
He said the business owners voluntarily ceased operations and contacted city officials to inspect the building.
“We went out on-site at their request,” he said. “There’s structural issues with their walls. It’s most likely from stormwater. We agreed with them the building should be closed until (the repairs) are addressed by the business after they contact their insurance.”
He said after the city got involved, the closure became an official matter, so the city will need to give its approval to reopen after repairs take place.
Main Street Cafe has survived prior closures.
When Main Street Cafe had different ownership and was located at 117 Main St. in Festus, it was damaged by fire in October 2007. The cafe reopened about a year later at its current site.
In January 2019, the restaurant closed for a short period after a small fire confined to the kitchen of the current building caused some damage.