PORT AU PORT WEST, N.L. — One of Newfoundland’s oldest companies has begun to rebuild a hardware store that burned down last spring, breaking ground with an excavator last week. Abbott & Haliburton Home Building Centre’s store was built shortly after the end of the Second World War by a family enterprise dating back to the 1880s. The store and its upstairs gift shop were ravaged by a fire the night of April 3.
Owner Bill Abbott described to the CBC his “pure excitement” at watching the rebuilding effort begin, and hailed the support he’s received from the community. “People come in and they want to know when the new building is starting,” he said, “and the reaction on Facebook when I posted the picture (of the excavator) was overwhelming … it was emotional.”
