LEWISTON – Richard Hollis was grateful to get out alive when his Lewiston Radiator Works was destroyed by an explosion in January.

Now, he’s ready to get back in.

Hollis plans to rebuild his 95 Main St. auto repair business on the site – hopefully in time to open next spring.

He said rebuilding would begin as soon as the lot was cleaned up.

“It’s a great location,” he said. “It has great exposure being right there by the city’s gateway, and it gets a lot of traffic from the people that work downtown.”

Hollis was in the shop with one of his employees at about 4 p.m. Jan. 11 when the building exploded around them. A car on a jack above them protected the two from the brunt of the explosion.

“We were in the right side of the building, which was the best place to be,” Hollis said. “I knew where the door was, and I grabbed my employee and said, ‘Something bad happened. We have to get out of here.’ And then it got real black.”

Five people were injured in the blast that destroyed the shop and the neighboring Hotel Holly. An investigation centering on leaking gas pipes under Main Street is still pending.

Hollis said his plans were on hold while investigators studied the site.

“Then we were working with our insurance company to see what we’d lost and what could be salvaged,” Hollis said. “We had to find out just what we’d lost and what we needed to replace. I guess you could say we’ve just been trying to regroup.”

Crews should begin removing debris from the wrecked buildings Wednesday. He hoped to begin rebuilding soon, but he didn’t know when the cleanup would be completed.

“I’m still drawing up plans for the building,” he said. “I want to be done by the spring because that’s our busiest time of the year.”

He may have to find a temporary place to work out of if it takes longer, he said.

No city official had approached Hollis about buying his property, he said. He told city staff that he planned to rebuild.

“They just said that sounded appropriate at this point,” Hollis said.

In January, City Administrator Jim Bennett said he expected the city to pursue Hollis’ property after the city decided what to do with Bates Mill building No. 5. The mill building is on the southern side of Hollis property and Bennett has identified it as a potential site for a conference center.

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