Van Wert celebrates rebuilding

A theater's reopening after a tornado is a start for the city's comeback.
VAN WERT, Ohio (AP) -- The city's only movie theater has been rebuilt two years after a deadly tornado that tore through northwest Ohio ripped off its roof and dumped cars in the front rows.
Two of the five screens at Van Wert Cinemas opened Friday, and the third should open by mid-December.
Five people were killed and 26 injured in the Nov. 10, 2002, tornado that damaged many other businesses in a 100-mile path. Quick thinking by the theater manager saved others when he moved customers to safety.
The drive-in next to the cinema in this city 75 miles southwest of Toledo also was leveled.
Many other businesses have reopened and even expanded, and there are plans for a new $6 million shopping center.
"We can honestly say that after two years we're finally back," said Nancy Bowen, economic development director for Van Wert County.
Insurance difficulties, a delay in a Small Business Administration loan and a mold problem contributed to the long rebuilding, theater owner Jim Boyd said. The new largest 150-seat auditoriums should be back next year, he said.
The theater's return mean residents who for two years went to Lima or Fort Wayne, Ind., likely also shopping and eating dinner there, will keep their dollars in town.