Mexico One Stop to close for much of summer to repair building damaged by bus

Mexico One Stop owner Wilbur Ambrose stands inside the brick portion of his 1 Harlow Hill Road business, which was destroyed when a school bus crashed into it Wednesday morning. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

MEXICO — Thursday morning, the day after a school bus struck his store, owner Wilbur Ambrose showed the damage to the Mexico One Stop at 1 Harlow Hill Road.

“We’re closed. This is our income. I don’t know what we’re going to do… It destroyed where the walk-in was. I had nine cooler doors. They’re all gone,” he said. “The fire department came in and cut the power, so we lost all the food.”

Ambrose said they opened here two years ago in July after two months of work, moving their business called Munchies from Rumford Center. “Now looking at it, it’s worse than when we came in and redid it. I’m just devastated.”

Brenda Ambrose, who owns the business with her husband, was working in the kitchen with employee Mel Tucker before the store was to open at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“I could hear the horn just blaring,” said Tucker, who was making meatballs at about 8:30 a.m. “I thought he had hit somebody because you could hear the metal. He must have hit the pole with mirrors. Then I saw the bus coming through.”

Brenda Ambrose added, “You could feel the whole building shake.”

“She was crying when I got here,” said Wilbur Ambrose, who was out of town at the time of the crash.

A school bus driver was injured Wednesday morning when the bus he was driving struck a storage building at Mexico One Stop store on Harlow Hill Road in Mexico. No students were aboard, according to police officer Ashley Rich. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

He said the brick portion of the building is going to have to be taken down and replaced. “I don’t know. We’ve got to get some professionals in here.”

A visit from the insurance adjuster is scheduled. Ambrose said he is well insured and believes the school district will be good on their end to cover damage from this accident.

“We don’t know what they’re going to do for us,” he said.

As they were standing in the dark, delivery people came in to ask about providing soda.

Brenda Ambrose told them, “We’re going to be down for awhile.”

Ambrose added he believes the shutdown could last at least three months, depending on the availability of “reputable” contractors they’ll need. “I’m taking quotes.”

Contractors interested can reach Ambrose at 207-212-8588.