Downtown Macon Nu-Way demolition pending; rebuilding will miss anniversary

As flames tore through the Nu-Way on Cotton Avenue in March, owners of the iconic restaurant vowed to rebuild in time for the 100th anniversary.

That dream, too, has gone up in smoke.

Although expected demolition is only days away, it has taken nearly four months for various insurance adjusters to examine the property and file reports.

“Any time you get multiple insurance agencies involved, multiple groups, it stretches it out,” said Sgt. Ben Gleaton, a Macon-Bibb County fire investigator.

An asbestos assessment resulted in a 27-page report, a necessary step to clear the property for construction of a new eatery to open next year.

“It won’t be February, for sure,” co-owner Jim Cacavias said. “We’re resolved. It’s going to be a long process. Other than it being agonizingly slow, it’s really going along smoothly.

Cacavias and his partner, Spyros Dermatas, wish they could speed up the process.

“But things take time,” Cacavias said. “You look at the outside and you wonder what’s the holdup.”

While the building’s facade appears fine, trained eyes see differently.

Structural engineers have evaluated the walls of the 125-year-old building.

“We know they want to demolish the whole thing, and that’s not our call,” Cacavias said.

They have to proceed cautiously, he said.

During the fire investigation, they discovered that the roof joists from the Nu-Way building continued next door into the second floor of the Thompson building, home to the law firm of Spivey, Pope, Green & Greer.

Thick smoke funneled through crevices along those joists into the law offices, forcing the attorneys to move to a temporary location on Riverside Drive, across from The Shoppes at River Crossing.

“It’s unfortunate. We’ve kind of got them on hold,” Cacavias said.

The fire also revealed what could be a piece of firefighting history.

The Nu-Way attic contained a huge steel tank, about 30 feet long and 4 to 5 feet in diameter.

“It appears to be an old, gravity-fed fire prevention system,” Cacavias said. “It’s so old nobody knows about it.”

Gleaton said it is similar to other water tanks he has seen on old downtown buildings.

“It looks like a submarine almost,” he said. “They used to put water tanks on the roof for a gravity-fed sprinkler system.”

Investigators have yet to pinpoint the exact cause of the March 13 blaze.

They ruled out arson and natural gas and homed in on an electrical malfunction near a heating system in the rear of the building on the ground floor.

It is not yet clear whether the fire started in the infrared heater, the timer or the power feed.

As investigators sort that out, the business owners are still counting their blessings, which include saving decades worth of Nu-Way memorabilia and all the company files.

What can’t be saved is the quaint, classic, diner-style venue destroyed in the fire.

“We’ve had to divorce ourselves from replacing it as it is,” Cacavias said. “It would not be cost-effective.”

While Cacavias said it is too soon to reveal the new design and its architect, they do plan to build a museum-like eatery to take them into the second century of business.

More details will come as soon as demolition is scheduled.

Crews will likely remove everything, leaving a hole in the ground with a fence around it.

Meanwhile, the surge in business at other Nu-Way locations continues, he said.

“It’s really humbling and remarkable that it’s still there, Emery Highway especially,” Cacavias said. “A lot of downtown folks are going over there for their Nu-Way fix.”

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Downtown Macon Nu-Way demolition pending; rebuilding will miss anniversary ."