ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lux Lounge, a bar on South Avenue in Rochester’s South Wedge, is continuing to renovate as of late October after a fire broke out on the building’s second floor back on June 29.
News10NBC’s Digital Producer Hunter Wright spoke with the owner of Lux, Karrie Laughton, about what caused the fire, the renovation progress, when the bar will reopen, insurance, and more
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Lux Lounge on South Avenue closes after fire on second floor (June 29) See pictures: Lux shares update on restoration efforts after fire damages bar (Aug. 7)Back in June, the fire broke out just before 5 a.m., and crews arrived to find flames coming from two windows. It took crews around 30 minutes to control the fire. The Rochester Fire Department said some items were destroyed on the second floor, used for storage and office spaces. No one was hurt.
The investigation
Hunter asked Laughton about an update on what caused to fire. She said it’s still unknown to fire investigators.
“I’m still working with the fire investigators, so they have not made a, a final determination yet. So, I’ve been working very closely with them, but, nothing, nothing has been announced. And so, until we have something concrete, we’re keeping it that way, or they are. So, still under investigation, unfortunately,” Laughton said.
Renovation progress
Laughton said “phase one” of the renovation has been completed. In phase one, it included cleaning out anything that was damaged in the fire, along with removing water damage from when responders put out the flames. This included gutting a part of the building itself and removing the smell from the fire.
“So all that had to be literally taken down, like all the drywall, insulation, everything had to be taken down to the studs, ceilings. So that whole front part of the building, upstairs and downstairs, is, right now, down to the studs, and it’s not just cleaning it out. There’s like, you know, you have to scrub the air and stuff like that, and then you call, and then you have to encapsulate the wood because there’s that smell of fire and smoke that just seeps into everything. So that phase is done,” she said.
August 2026 August 2026 August 2026 August 2026Laughton also explained that she recently met with contractors about “phase two,” saying it’s time to rebuild. In the next phase, electrical and plumbing are involved. This includes rebuilding the front section of the bar.
“There’s electrical and plumbing, and you have to, luckily most of the framing, like the structure is pretty good, which we’re lucky about. So we didn’t lose much structure. So there’s not a whole lot we have to reframe. But you know, there’s a new roof. I have to get a new roof. So basically we’re rebuilding from the, the ground up the front part of the bar,” Laughton said.
Reopening date?
When asked about a specific date or timeframe for Lux’s reopening, Laughton said she’s trying to reopen the bar by the end of the year, and spoke with her contractors about her intended deadline.
“It’s going to be tight and it’s going to be a lot of work in a small amount of time, but that’s my goal. Whether we made it or not, we’ll see. But I am going to work my tushy off to make sure that we are open by the end of the year,” she said.
She said the delay has been longer than she originally thought, also saying when it does reopen, there won’t be much of any changes to the bar’s layout and decor.
Impact on the community and employees
At the time of the fire, there were 30 employees working for the bar; most of the employees are part-time, and they want to come back. Other bars and restaurants have taken in Lux’s staff in the meantime.
Hunter: “You said you have like 30 employees. That’s a lot of employees, how have they been handling it?”
Laughton: “Everyone’s very sad and chomping at the bit to come back to work. Like most of everybody I’ve talked to is ready to just come back. So we’re just so sad to have lost our, our home base, you know. So they’re being very patient.”
Laughton: “A lot of other bars and restaurants have opened up their doors to my staff, which is just absolutely amazing. So people are — they’re making it work for the most part. And again, most — we have 30 employees, most of them are part-time. There’s only a handful that this is their one and only job.”
She explained the impact the fire has had on the neighborhood, saying the South Wedge community has seen a slowdown in activity because of the bar’s renovation. “There’s been a slowdown in traffic and just people coming in the neighborhood and stuff like that. So it’s detrimental that we get back open for, you know, everyone’s sake and the sake of the South Wedge. Not only just our customers, but for the neighborhood in general,” Laughton explained.
Lux’s insurance
The community has been contributing thousands of dollars towards the renovation through a GoFundMe. Laughton said the raised money is currently being used to pay open vendor invoices for beer, liquor, Carbonic, and supplies, which weren’t covered by insurance. “We had to pay for the beer that we bought and the liquor that we bought, and, and none of that’s covered by insurance. Like, our insurance was very bottom of the barrel,” she said.
She said she’s also using the money to pay for the bar’s mortgage, utilities, insurance, and staff. “Some of the money went to, you know, divvied it up for the staff. If, you know, the GoFundMe and these fundraisers wanted to go directly to staff, I made that happen. So, it goes quickly, and, but every single penny is going into that bar,” she mentioned.
Laughton said the insurance took a while to come in. “There was a long wait with no, like, no insurance. The insurance just came through like a week ago (a week prior to Oct. 23). Like, it’s been— it took like three months for that to happen. So there’s been like zero coming in. So that really helped us stay afloat and keep, keep us from falling, you know, too far into the hole,” Laughton explained.
When asked about claims that she doesn’t have any insurance, Laughton said, “Yeah, of course I have insurance. I’m not an idiot. If you’re a business owner, you better have insurance. I had insurance.”
She expects there not to be a surplus of money left over, even after the renovation is completed. She hopes that it will be just enough to bring the bar back.
Additional information
A cat in the bar, Woody, had significant burns from the fire, but Laughton said she has healed. “She had burns over a lot of her body, but she is healed up and her fur is growing back. So to look at her, you would never know she went through it,” Laughton said.
She plans to move Woody back in once the renovation is completed.
Lux may call out to the community, asking for people to help with painting, but Laughton mentioned that she has enough contractors in place.
Anyone who’s interested in helping with the rebuild can email Lux at luxlounge666@gmail.com.
Lux Lounge continues to renovate after June fire causes local bar to close WHEC.com.
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