Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to delete information inaccurately added to a quote from Geoffrey Graves.
No one was hurt when a driver hit the storefront of Summit Cleaners in Kenai Monday evening, though the walls were damaged.
Christine Cunningham, who is the assistant to the Kenai city manager, said she was going to the business on the Kenai Spur Highway around 5 p.m. on Monday when she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes.
“I drove through the front of the building,” Cunningham said.
The parts of the building damaged by Cunningham’s car have been covered with wooden boards and Summit Cleaners is still open for business. Owner Geoffrey Graves said because both the building and Cunnginham’s vehicle are insured, he is not too worried about paying for repairs.
“My main concern was (that) she (Cunningham) was so upset,” Graves said.
Had Cunningham hit the building just a few more feet to the right, Graves said one of the business’s expensive pieces of machinery could have been damaged. As it is, Graves has estimated that no structural damage was done and it should cost around $10,000 to fix. He said he will have a better estimate when a contractor comes out to look at the building.
The front walls of the business are not load-bearing walls, Graves said.
“I build, and I’m going to say $10,000,” Graves said. “We’re not going to be able to tell until we get the sheetrock down and see if there’s any structural damage. I don’t think there is, so I’m saying $10,000 with no structural (damage).”
Lt. David Ross said members of the Kenai Police Department responded to the accident at 5:12 p.m. Graves said the officers handled the situation well.
“Everybody was pleasant about it,” Cunningham said. “I felt so bad, but I’ve never done anything like that (before).”
Graves and his wife, Theresa, have owned Summit Cleaners since 1991, and said this is the first time an accident like this has happened there.
Only one employee, Audrey Merrow, was in the building at the time. Geoffrey Graves said Merrow had been on the phone with her husand when the crash happened, and that he had rushed over from Nikiski out of concern.
“It’s a small town. We’re all friends,” Graves said.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsula.com.
