Canal Wigwam set for Friday reopening after fire

CANAL WINCHESTER – Closed since a Dec. 5 fire, the Canal Wigwam restaurant is set to reopen at 6 a.m. Friday.

“It’s been a really long, long time,” owner Mark Savino said. “Too long. There will no ribbon cutting or anything like that. I don’t believe in that stuff. We’ll just open for business.”

He said the fire was electrical in nature and started in the building’s ceiling above the women’s restroom, causing more than $500,000 in damage. Most of the damage was near the middle of the restaurant, with about 25 ceiling trusses suffering severe damage.

Savino said the refurbished restaurant looks much the same as it did before, with the black-and-white floor and red tables and chairs remaining. He did install a larger oven and the building has new electrical wiring to help prevent a similar disaster from happening again.

Savino said the ceiling was raised 18 inches and that the restaurant now has interior LED lighting, which he said makes it look larger than it actually is. The entrance to the restrooms was slightly reconfigured to give patrons more privacy.

Savino said he wanted to reopen before next week’s rib and blues festival.

“I didn’t want the festival to take away from us, and I didn’t want us to take away from them,” he said.

Savino said he put a sign on the door announcing the reopening, along with putting it on Facebook and relying on word-of-mouth advertising.

Savino said most of his employees are returning, including seven of the eight-member wait staff.

The restaurant at 4 High St. dates back to 1899, with Savino owning it since 2011.

The fire also damaged some surrounding buildings, including a barber shop and the national barber shop museum.

Canal Wigwam will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron