Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010

Eatery to rebuild

Popular Johnston County restaurant closed after an accidental fire

Crews have begun to tear down the fire-damaged Holt Lake Bar-B-Que & Seafood building and will begin construction on a replacement within the month.

"My plans after I demolish it are to build it back as quick as we can," said owner Terry Barefoot. He couldn't say when the rebuilt restaurant would open but said insurance wrangling had delayed demolition plans for weeks.

"It's been a rough road, and we still haven't settled up with them yet," Barefoot said.

The restaurant has been closed since an accidental fire heavily damaged the building. The fire didn't destroy the building, but Barefoot plans to rebuild it instead of repairing it.

The new building will be mostly identical, with updates to the floor plan, color scheme and décor, Barefoot said. "The inside was paneling, and that was good for 30 years ago, but people don't put much paneling up now," he said.