After a Fire on South Grand or Morgan Ford, the Long Wait Is Mostly Paperwork

"If we could've gotten in here the very next day, we probably could've got a lot of the water out, and wouldn't have needed to redo our floors."

Abigail Lehnert, assistant bar manager at Stella Blues, told St. Louis Public Radio this in April 2026, two years after a kitchen fire closed the Morgan Ford Road bar. The fire started in the early afternoon of April 5, 2024, and everyone inside got out safely. Most of the cost came later. Water and fire retardant sat on everything while the building stayed off-limits, and the damage grew while the staff waited outside.

A mile or so away, the Gelateria at 3197 S. Grand Blvd. has been closed since March 2025. Both businesses have long histories on their streets, and both owners decided to rebuild in place. What has set their pace is the same thing for both: what happens after the fire trucks leave. Insurance adjusters, permit reviewers, a federal loan rulebook and historic designation have mattered more than the fire itself.

The two-year clock at 3269 Morgan Ford

Stella Blues sits at 3269 Morgan Ford Road. Bar manager Zoe McKelvie explained the delay to STLPR. The insurance policy took several months to pay out, permitting dragged on, and the building wasn't safe to enter. She estimated the crew got the go-ahead to start cleanup and rebuilding in earnest only about nine months before that April 2026 interview. Put another way, roughly fifteen of the bar's twenty-five dark months went to waiting. Only the last stretch was building.

Even the finish line was a permit. In late April, STLPR reported the bar was "poised to reopen in the next few weeks, just waiting on a permit from the city." Sauce Magazine announced a soft launch for Friday, May 8, and FOX 2 confirmed that night that the bar had reopened.

Paul Choe, son of longtime owner Chun Choe, owns the bar, and chef Xavier Dorsey rents the kitchen space. Much of the rebuild was done by staff. McKelvie and Lehnert both worked at Stella before the fire, took other jobs during the rebuild, and quit those jobs to come back. Lehnert described days of hanging pictures, sweeping and building whatever needed building.

Regulars will recognize what came back:

• The posters, neon signs and "cash only" reminders covering nearly every inch of wall
• A pool table room with new paint but otherwise relatively unchanged
• A renovated back patio, a big bathroom renovation with a large mural outside, and an open kitchen that's now more visible from the dining room
• A Korean-influenced menu from Dorsey and sous chef Nick Schoemehl, including a bulgogi quesadilla, a Korean-fried chicken sandwich and crab Rangoon mozzarella sticks
• Soju, cocktails, a Bloody Mary topped with fried chicken, and gourmet jello shots at the bar

At 3197 S. Grand, the holdup is how a lender classifies a closed business

The Gelateria's fire also badly damaged the building next door, the former Orpheum Cleaners. Authorities have not stated an official cause. Owners Andy and Amanda Fair have run the cafe at the end of the South Grand business district for nearly two decades, and they chose to rebuild there instead of reopening somewhere else. "It's the right thing to do to try to save this and put it back," Andy Fair told STLPR.

The rebuild depends on an SBA 504 loan of about $2.4 million. The loan originally called for a 10% down payment. Because the business had not been open continuously, though, the agency handled the application as a "new business" loan, which requires 15% down. That raised the down payment by about $120,000. Fair said he had kept his city and state business licenses current the whole time and that the business was technically still open. An exception was requested and denied. The SBA's St. Louis district director said applications are reviewed under standardized rules. So the fire's own effects are what pushed the loan into the costlier category. The longer a business stays closed after a fire, the more it looks to a lender like a new business with no track record.

The money has come together in layers:

The city loan is meant to keep the business afloat while it pays the down payment and starts reconstruction. Without it, the couple said, the 15% would have used up the business's working capital. U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell told STLPR in July that his office was advocating for the business with federal agencies.

The building itself adds a second set of rules. STLPR has called the property a historically designated building and listed sorting out historic designations among the couple's "many speed bumps." The address did not appear on the city Preservation Board's July, August or September 2026 agendas. Staff-level review can happen outside those hearings, so that doesn't settle anything either way.

St. Louis Magazine reported in July that the plan has changed shape. The cafe would expand into the former Orpheum Cleaners space and drop the upstairs, which the owners tied to fire-code costs. As of the August board meeting, Andy Fair said permits had been pulled "for quite some time," cleanout was essentially done, and the demolition company was ready to start once SBA funding cleared. No public report since then confirms that construction has begun.

The two recoveries, month by month

Counted from each fire, the Gelateria isn't behind Stella Blues.

At the Gelateria's current 19 months, Stella Blues was still closed, its crew six months away from reopening. Both had the same stretch of waiting before work could start in earnest. Stella's took the form of an insurance check and an unsafe building. The Gelateria's has been a loan classification and a historic building. Going by Stella's pace, a South Grand reopening sometime in 2027 would be ordinary, not a sign of trouble.

What's moving on Grand and Morgan Ford this fall

The rest of both strips has kept moving during the wait, partly by reusing storefronts that were already there.

• South Grand Vintage Nightfest, Saturday, Oct. 10, 5–10 p.m., at Ritz Park on South Grand. The organizer advertises a free, all-ages night market with vintage vendors, art, music and community activities. The South Grand CID's own events page had no listings when checked, so it's worth confirming with the organizer before you go.
• audeō at 3161 S. Grand, in the former Lemongrass space. Owners Melissa "Mel" Weber and Matt Price plan coffee, draft beer, cocktails, nonalcoholic drinks and shareable light food such as pizza and protein salads. St. Louis Magazine's Oct. 5 roundup still lists it as a late-2026 opening.
• Analog Photobooth Studio at 3123 Morgan Ford Road. Co-owners Hannah Hamer and Tim Garrett opened May 1, 2026, a week before Stella Blues reopened down the street. The main draw is a 1950s chemical photo booth. There's also a digital booth and a small retail shelf of keychains and tote bags.
• Grand Boulevard roadwork, Holly Hills Avenue to Hall Street. This stretch is part of the city's $46 million Principal Arterial Traffic Safety Enhancements program. The work covers resurfacing, lane changes, ADA upgrades, and bike and pedestrian safety improvements. The city scheduled the arterial work between fall 2024 and fall 2026. In July, drivers reported missing lane striping on southbound South Grand from Sidney Street to Arsenal Street, which First Alert 4 attributed to fresh asphalt needing time to cure before striping.

That puts three dates on the fall calendar: Nightfest on Oct. 10, audeō by the end of the year, and the Grand roadwork wrapping up on the city's fall 2026 schedule. In August, Andy Fair said the Gelateria's rebuild would start once the SBA money cleared.

Many of the buildings along South Grand and Morgan Ford are old storefronts, like the Gelateria's. Insurance, permits and historic designation shape what happens to them after a sale or a setback. If you own one nearby and want to talk through what it's worth or what a sale would involve, DeMaggio Partners is glad to sit down with you for a free consultation or home valuation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.