Six Months After Storefront Crash, HUBBUB’s Temporary Location Still in Business

Nov. 11--Six months have passed since a car crashed into the side of the HUBBUB building at 505 N. Tower Ave. in Centralia.

Since then, owner Rebecca Staebler has been in negotiations with her insurance company and contractors to repair the damage to the 97-year-old building.

"We have yet to come up with a figure that everyone can agree on," Staebler told The Chronicle this week. "(HUBBUB) will be made whole again."

This summer, Staebler received a settlement from her insurance company and was ready to sign an agreement with a contractor, she said in a public Facebook post. But before she finalized the agreement, she received a call from an independent insurance adjuster who told her the insurance company wanted her to settle for an amount lower than what the cost of the repairs would be. She started compiling information about the needed repairs, the impacts the situation has had on her business and other information to send to the insurance company during the renegotiations.

Staebler, who was elected to the Centralia City Council this week, said she could not give estimates because the negotiations were still being conducted. At this point, it is unclear how long the process will take.

Since the incident, Staebler has had a smaller version of her shop open in the Wilson Hotel. Her business has changed its location, but not its feel. She said her regular customers have been able to find the new location, and she has received new customers from the foot traffic passing her store.

With the holidays approaching, Staebler said she will start marketing her new location better so the customers who only come during the holidays can find her at her new location.

One thing she has enjoyed about the new location is hearing the stories of people who used to work, live or visit the building in the past.

Staebler said anecdotes like the ones she has been hearing give the downtown storefront character, and just by opening a business in it has brought that block back to life.

On May 5 at roughly 1 a.m., a driver hit the HUBBUB storefront at a high rate of speed, The Chronicle reported in May. According to police, a smell of alcohol was coming from the vehicle and the driver did not attempt to slow down because of the lack of skid marks.

No work has been done on the building since it was boarded up in May.

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