The building at 737 G Street has housed the Hatchet House and Pacific Outfitters. It is now split down the middle. Northtown Books fills one half. Dandar's Boardgames and Books fills the other, in Suite 2. Northtown sits on the far side of the Plaza from its old H Street storefront, just south of Café Brio. A small sign from Visual Concepts faces Brio and the Plaza, and a permanent redwood sign is being built for the front. On September 18, the line to get into the grand reopening stretched almost to the end of the block.
That line is the clearest sign of how this year went on the Plaza. The shops that lost their buildings, stock and fixtures on January 2 are open again, on new shelves. The bars along Ninth Street on the north side never burned. Today they are still waiting on permits, licenses and repairs.
What the January fire took
The fire burned the north side of the 800 block of 10th Street, near 10th and H. That half-block sits between H and I streets and 9th and 10th streets. Officials counted seven businesses and eight upstairs apartments destroyed. At least five neighboring businesses had smoke, heat or water damage. Early reports named the lost spaces:
- Northtown Books, at 957 H Street
- Dandar's Boardgames and Books, at 959 H Street
- Global Village Gallery
- Vanilla Sky Company
- Hensel's candy shop, kitchen store and paint shop
- Tenth Street Studios, where four artists worked
Hensel's main hardware store was saved and reopened soon after the fire. Northtown had been on H Street since 1965, and Lost Coast Outpost called it Humboldt County's oldest independently run bookstore.
How the shops that burned got back first
Here is how the recovery went, in order:
- March 13. Hensel's started mixing paint again at the Hensel's Ace Hardware Arcata Color Center, 884 9th Street.
- Spring. Dandar's opened a very small temporary storefront in the Jacoby Storehouse, a space Bill Chino helped them find.
- June 24. Dandar's held its grand opening at 737 G Street and opened for regular business the next day. About 15 people brought hand trucks and wagons to move the stock around the block from the Jacoby Storehouse.
- June 25. Northtown hosted an author event in its unfinished space. Owner Dante DiGenova said the new store is "less wide, but longer." He added, "I'm thrilled to have a solid floor and non-leaking roof."
- September 18. Northtown's grand reopening, about eight and a half months after the fire.
Community money helped make that pace possible. Humboldt Made started the Arcata Fire Relief Fund with a $50,000 commitment from the PG&E Corporation Foundation. The fund was set up as a 100% pass-through with no administrative fees. Humbrews' Arcata Rising benefit was held January 30 through February 1. It raised more than $30,000 for the fund. By May 31, Arcata Chamber executive director Meredith Maier told Times-Standard the wider community and business relief effort had raised more than $120,000. In their August update, Dan and dar Gilkey of Dandar's wrote that their quick recovery "would not have been possible" without that help. They named about 500 individual donors.
The new Northtown is a little bigger than the old store, with more room between the shelves. A longtime customer told The Lumberjack it's "very similar to the original store in terms of the way it's set up." The rocking horse burned, but a child's rocking chair donated to the store now sits in its place. Dandar's has a gaming area that costs $5 per person, or the same amount in store purchases. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Its regular events have returned:
- Casual Star Wars Unlimited play, Tuesdays at 5 p.m.
- Casual Magic: The Gathering play, Fridays at 5 p.m.
- Miniature painting day, second Saturday of each month at 11 a.m.
The half-block on 10th Street is cleared and sealed
The burned debris stayed in place through spring and early summer. In May, the City said demolition and debris removal would take about eight weeks once they started. The property owners' contractor was set to begin July 6. Two weeks in, Environmental Remedies told Redwood News the job was 75% done. All asbestos-containing material had been removed, and the crew was two weeks ahead of schedule. Crews also found some personal belongings of former tenants in the debris and returned them.
By August 27, the Mad River Union reported the site had been excavated to ground level and covered with a protective seal. City Manager Merritt Perry told the City Council that toxic cleanup will continue on the former dry cleaner site at 10th and G streets. That work was already underway before the fire. Perry said the rest of the half-block's properties are ready for redevelopment. Several different owners and insurers hold those parcels. As of early October, none of the reporting mentions a rebuild plan, sale or temporary use.
Ninth Street's bars have had their buildings all along
On the north side of the Plaza, the Alibi has been closed since May 2024. On July 28, the Arcata Planning Commission voted unanimously to give Greenview Market owner Bhupinder Singh a conditional use permit to reopen it. The bar side opens first, and the restaurant side follows once repairs are done. Singh's agent, David LaRue, estimated about $1 million in repairs, starting with a new roof, because years of rain have ruined the floors and walls. The commission also required outdoor lighting on the facade. City code gives multi-step openings like this one 24 months to finish.
"I'm astounded at the red tape and hoops we have to jump through." David LaRue, speaking for the Alibi's owner at the July Planning Commission meeting
The state's license lookup has listed the Alibi's liquor license application as pending since June 6, and no approval has been reported. Two doors down, the Sidelines building at 732 Ninth Street holds a Miranda's Rescue thrift shop. In June, the city said it would work with owner Salvatore Costanzo on bringing the bar back. Later that month, Hotel Arcata filed a protest with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Costanzo withdrew his license application in September. He gave no reason and told Lost Coast Outpost, "We'll see how it goes." Toby and Jack's owner had told the city he planned to file a revised permit for a bar with no restaurant. No filing has been reported since.
None of these buildings was damaged in January. They are slower because of what reopening a long-closed bar involves: roof repairs, asbestos testing, demolition permits, a conditional use permit and a state license. Each step takes its own time.
What's still unconfirmed
Some businesses from the fire have no public update yet. Global Village Gallery is the one confirmed closure. Its owners had already planned to close for good, and the fire destroyed the stock before they could. No later status has been reported for Vanilla Sky Company. There is no public word yet on whether Hensel's kitchen store and candy shop will return. In April, the Tenth Street Studios artists were still looking for a new space and replacement supplies.
One new business is planned nearby. Companion Animal Foundation director Kim Class is renovating a South G Street building for Ms. Kitty's, a cat café. As of August, the foundation was raising $40,000 to finish construction and aiming for a fall opening. No date has been set.
A Saturday loop with the new map
The Arcata Farmers' Market is still the Plaza's steadiest weekly event. It runs every Saturday, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through November, then 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from December through March. From the market, Northtown and Dandar's are now one storefront apart on G Street, near Café Brio. DiGenova told the North Coast Journal he hopes being next to Brio will bring foot traffic to and from the Plaza. He also likes the light from the big front windows. Hensel's paint counter is a few blocks south at 884 9th Street. On second Saturdays, the 11 a.m. painting session at Dandar's starts while the market is still open. Northtown's window display will change regularly, the way it did on H Street, and Tovi, one of the store poodles, is already back watching over the books.
The changes around the Plaza can affect what homes nearby are worth, and the team at Redwood Realty follows them block by block. If you own near downtown Arcata and want to know where your home stands this fall, ask us for a home value.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
