Granby's Final Building Destroyed By Bulldozer Being Rebuilt

GRANBY, Colo. (CBS4) - The renaissance of Granby will be complete in a few months.

It's been more than seven years since a man went on a rampage in a bulldozer in the mountain town, destroying more than a dozen buildings and causing widespread damage.

Casey Farrell owns Gamble's Appliance, the final building that was crushed by Marvin Heemayer's bulldozer. He says he will finally be back open and selling appliances early next year.

Some residents CBS4 interviewed this week said the town is excited for the final building that was wrecked to be back in business, but for Farrell there are still bad memories. He says the scars will likely never go away.

June 4, 2004, was the date of Heemayer's shocking rampage through town in a Komatsu D355-A that he had armored with giant steel walls. Heemayer killed himself inside the bulldozer after 90 minutes of destruction, leaving an estimated $5 million of damage in his wake.

PHOTO GALLERY: Granby Bulldozer Rampage

It's a day Farrell keeps trying to forget. His finances took a big hit, and the Great Recession hasn't helped much either in the past few years.

"The last three years have been really rough. Really rough," he told CBS4.

In recent years Farrell has bounced around with his current store. But he owned the land that Gamble's sat on and after a lot of soul searching, decided it was finally time to rebuild.

"I took all the money I had out of the bank, cashed in my retirement account, decided to get back on Main Street," he said.

Farrell says he's hopeful the new Gamble's will succeed, but he knows his store won't exactly be what it was.

"To go back in full tilt, I don't have the resources do to that," he said.