Colon bank celebrates reopening after fire

COLON, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Friday was a big day for a local business in St. Joseph County.

More than two years ago, a fire at a bank in Colon left extensive damage. Firefighters even had to shut down part of M-86 as they worked to contain the flames.

An exact cause for the fire has still not been determined, but they say it was not set on purpose.

Now, after two years of working out of a small trailer, employees at Citizen Bank say they couldn't be happier in their brand new building.

Pictures are all that's left of what used to be of a more than 100 year old bank that burnt to the ground.

Manager Mary Fox remembers getting an early morning call on October 12^th, 2006, and she remembers the moment she knew the building was a total loss.

"You really felt for everybody involved," said branch manager Mary Fox, "you just, my employees were displaced, and I mean they really felt displaced, the town was, history just up in smoke, so it was something you know, just emotional, it really was."

A very different emotion was present on Friday, and the happiness was apparent as workers welcomed the public into their brand new building.

It took two years to rebuild, which meant two years running a fully functioning bank out of a trailer, and two years of four tellers trying to do business without bumping into one another.

While the opera house in Colon was a total loss, workers tell Newschannel 3 that they were able to salvage a couple of chairs and that they'll turn those into memorials of what used to be.