'La Tea Da' owner pushes ahead following fire
Updated: 01/02/2015 11:28 PM Created: 01/02/2015 5:59 PM WHEC.com By: Lynette Adams - @whec_ladams
The owner of a popular business is now trying to figure out what's next after a fire destroyed the La Tea Da Tea Room and Parlor.
We're told flames broke out around 6:30 p.m. Thursday night and we were there as the owner returned to the scene to try to make sense of what happened.
The parlor is a "whimsical" place for mostly girls and women to come and enjoy a tea party and good food. Friday, it was emotional for the owner as she walked through and surveyed the damage.
Owner Maureen Becker says, "I have 12,000 people on Facebook asking me when I'm re-opening. So, I got to do it because that's who I am, one way or another, somehow."
Becker is putting a courageous face on the loss of what she describes as her "baby." She fought back tears as she walked through what was the La Tea Da Tearoom and Parlor.
"I'm devastated," she says. "This was my baby and I made a lot of children and women happy. They were off this week and so we had a lot of them coming in. They would dress up as princess fairies and it was just a whimsical place to forget the outside world."
Becker opened the Alexander eatery back in 2005. The building had been vacant for three years and she says it didn't look like much, but she saw its potential.
"I could see with the ramp in the back for wheelchairs and the parking across the street and the porch for sitting in the summer, says Becker. "That with color and tea cups and lights and glitter it would be a great place."
Around 6:20 p.m. Thursday, firefighters from Rescue 11 spotted smoke from the business and called it in. Becker says nothing could be saved and now she has a lot of questions.
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'La Tea Da' owner pushes ahead following fire