SCOTIA, N.Y. – Very few owners are likely to tell you they get a sense of relief from watching their business torn to the ground, but Robb Clemons' Dairy Circus isn't most businesses.
"I am just sort of glad that it is coming to a conclusion," Clemons said Monday afternoon. "Every time I go by, I get a little bit of a sinking feeling in my heart. Now that it is just about down, I am starting to feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel."
Part of the family’s third generation to work at Dairy Cirus, Robb’s son echoed that sentiment.
"I have worked here for about five or six years,” Ryan Clemons said. “Just growing up here, they've been knocking down a lot of memories."
Demolition work began exactly one week after the popular ice cream shop and diner on Scotia's Sacandaga Avenue was destroyed by an evening fire.
"I was sick, it was sick,” Robert Sitors said. “It's too bad."
Watching from his pickup as the pile of rubble gradually shrank before him, Sitors was one of many Scotia residents who made frequent trips to the family-run establishment.
"It's an icon, this place,” Sitors said. “Everybody has been, anybody who lives in Scotia has been here once in their lifetime."
Almost immediately after news of the fire spread, community members responded with GoFundMe pages meant to help the Clemons family rebuild.
"We were just shocked by all of the support we got,” Ryan said.
With five decades of his family's work reduced to ashes, Robb chooses not to view the fire as a sign it's time to walk away; rather, an opportunity to reward his loyal patrons and rebuild.
"I feel like I would let them down if I didn't rebuild,” Robb said. “I want to come back and make everybody happy.”