Dawn Constantine, manager of the Cherry Lounge explained that despite the Halloween festivities preventing many people from eating at restaurants Monday, the restaurant’s reopening was successful.

“It went pretty well,” she said. “Being that it was Halloween, a lot of people were home and trick or treating, but we were fairly busy, so no complaints.”

The Cherry Lounge unexpectedly closed for two weeks, starting in the middle of October, due to a malfunction with the sprinkler system caused by other tenants in the building located at 326 Cherry St.

“There was a sprinkler system that accidentally went off,” Constantine said. “There were some people upstairs in the property above us doing some work, and they hit a sprinkler head and it accidentally went off.”

The Cherry Lounge reopened Monday after interior repairs on the ceiling were completed.

The sprinkler system caused water to pour into the restaurant’s dining room, storage room and ladies’ room. As a result of the damage caused by the water, Constantine said the restaurant had to replace the ceiling, which is why the restaurant remained closed for two weeks.

Constantine said it was a challenge for the restaurant to complete the repairs and thoroughly clean everything prior to the restaurant’s reopening Monday. The restaurant also lost business revenue for two weeks, which is a difficult challenge to navigate with the restaurant already facing increasing costs with inflation, supply-chain issues and minimum wage increases. Nevertheless, Constantine said the restaurant is hopeful that insurance will help cover the costs associated with the restaurant’s temporary closure.

Constantine said the community’s response to the reopening of the Cherry Lounge has been “very positive.”

“I posted on Facebook that we were reopening, and all the responses were very positive,” she said.

After being in business for 38 years, Constantine said community members were “happy” to hear news of the restaurant’s reopening.

“People were happy that we were going to be back in business,” she said.

The community’s continued support of the Cherry Lounge is something that is very important to Constantine.

“We have some great customers that have been very supportive to us over the years, and we just really appreciate the business,” she said. “It’s kept us going and we hope it continues for many more years.”