SPARTA, N.C. — It was nearly a year of long days and nights for 79-year-old Doug Blevins, watching over the rebuilding and repairing of the Veterans of Foreign Wars center after an earthquake shook the small town of Sparta last summer and caused damage. 

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On August 9, an earthquake hit Sparta and damaged the VFW center and other properties 

It took months and months to restore the destruction caused by the quake 

The VFW center in Sparta has since re-opened 

"I was down here everyday from the time we started in September before we got done," Blevins said.

He is the past state commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sparta. He was in the Navy and a part of the Cuban Missile Crisis and deployed to the Mediterranean three times during his military service. 

Blevins was one of the first to arrive at the Sparta VFW after the commotion that summer day. According to the United States Geological Survey, the 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit just after 8 a.m. August 9. 

"The water pipes had broke, the basements had flooded and we started looking around at all the cracks in the walls," Blevins said, recalling the destruction. 

The building was one of many the earthquake severely damaged. Cracks covered the outside and the walls. 

"This kitchen was completely destroyed, cabinets were off the wall, dishes were destroyed," Blevins said. 

The repairs cost $172,000, and they constructed a building within a building, making the damaged outside walls purely cosmetic. 

They worked to keep as many original pieces as possible as they rebuilt after the quake shook the ground, sending cracks up walls and pushing over dishes, furniture and other items. 

They worked hard to keep their museum intact, which is filled with items from local veterans, such as combat gear, uniforms and other items from the past. 

The building is now back open.