LAKEVIEW, Ohio — Main Street in Lakeview is slowly coming back together. Signs of the tornado are still very present, but businesses like Honey Bee’s Café and Ice Cream are opening back up.
“The roof was completely gone. We had rainfall from the tornado as well, so it was essentially raining into the upstairs of the building and some of it trickled downstairs here,” said Amy Bakle, the owner of Honey Bee’s.
Bakle said she was worried that her building would have to be demolished. But thankfully that wasn’t the case and the historic building is buzzing again with customers.
“It feels good. I’m so happy to see the community coming back and everybody is supporting one another,” she said.
Lakeview Mayor Elaine Fagan Moore said although there’s a lot of work to be done, she is proud of the progress so far. She’s starting to piece together what’s next for the village buildings.
“We haven’t touched our village offices yet. We are working through the insurance on that. Then make a plan on where we are going to move to, and what does that look like,” said Fagan Moore.
Fagan Moore said the rebuilding of Lakeview presents a new opportunity for the community.
“This opens the door for new businesses to come in, people that would be interested in investing back into our community. I welcome that with open arms,” said Fagan Moore.
She wants people to know that Lakeview is open and they need people's support. The work is far from over but she believes the spirit of the community is still strong.
“It’s small but yet it's mighty. The many communities that came in to help us was amazing. They brought a message of hope and love to us and it was very felt,” she said.
The future of Lakeview is in the hands of the people of the community. The small village is on its way back to normalcy.
“It’s a long process and we want to do it right. In order to do it right sometimes it goes slow,” said Fagan Moore.