Jefferson City businesses rebuild, reimagine after tornado

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) -

A broken clock hangs on the wall in the Capitol Kids business on Ford Street in Jefferson City. The time reads 11:32, forever frozen by the damage an EF3 tornado did to the building in May 2019.

Swanson also remembers feeling frozen.

“Sitting on the curb in the daylight thinking ‘Is this the end? Are we done?" Swanson said he asked himself. "The business is done? Because how we gonna do anything.”

Swanson and many others were faced with that prospect after the tornado hit Jefferson City. The Department of Commerce and Insurance estimated in 2020 that the tornado had done more than $79 million in damage to commercial property.

Swanson has run the cheer and gymnastics gym on Ford Street for many years. It was one of several businesses near Highway 54 and Christy Drive that suffered damage from the tornado. He said the immediate aftermath left him unsure of how to proceed.

"I don't have a book on how to recover from a tornado," Swanson said.

Swanson said the help of an investor in the building and the dozens of people that make up the gym's community -- students, athletes and their families -- helped him begin to clean and rebuild. The reconstruction allowed the business to open its preschool program, which Swanson said has been a success.

“It absolutely dumbfounded me that people were just coming in, but after I had a chance to sit back and think about it, I was very thankful that we had invested in these families and had taken the time to show that we cared about their kids," Swanson said.

“You know I've called the families here my own," Stewart said. "That's something that I've appreciated that if I needed anything, that if things ever went south, that the families would be there for me," Stewart said.

Developer DJ Drury is rehabilitating the Jefferson City School District's old Simonsen 9th Grade Center on Miller Street. The district sold the building after the tornado damaged it. Drury hopes to turn the building into a mix of residential and commercial uses. City records show the development team most recently applied for permits to fix the roof.

WATCH: Jefferson City business area rebuilds after direct hit

Aaron Clark owns two homes across the street from the Simonsen building. He said he's excited for the results of the project, saying Drury is the right developer for the job. Clark said he has marveled at how the community stepped up to help each other in the wake of the tornado and helped rebuild and rehabilitate parts of the city.

Swanson said he saw that same sentiment to help firsthand.

"It really shows shows a lot of the grit and determination that they have here in Jefferson City," Swanson said. "It makes you proud to live here.”

Watch "Rebuilding Mid-Missouri," our look at the five years since the tornado, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.