Green Street reopened to pedestrians and vehicles Sunday evening following the demolition of the attic and second floor of the building complex destroyed by a fire Wednesday.

The complex housed three local businesses: Zorba’s Restaurant, Mia Za’s Cafe and Pitaya, a clothing store. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but was confined to the apartments above Zorba’s before spreading throughout the complex.

“It’s in the best interest of our community, the University, and Campustown businesses to move forward,” said Craig Rost, Champaign deputy city manager for economic development, in a press release from the Champaign Police Department.

The fire was extinguished by Wednesday afternoon, but the 600 block of the street, between Sixth and Wright streets, was closed to vehicles for damage assessment until Sunday.

So far no business owners or engineers have been allowed in the complex. Once the public safety concerns have been fully addressed, fire investigators may be able to enter the building in an attempt to determine the cause of the fire.

Power that had previously been disabled has returned for most of the businesses on the street, and many west of the incident remain open.

According to a press release from the City of Champaign, no injuries were reported after METCAD sent fire crews to the area at approximately 7:57 a.m.

“When we got on the scene, there was smoke crossing Green Street. That doesn’t happen very often,” said Dena Schumacher, spokeswoman for the Champaign Fire Department. “And so we already knew we were in trouble and had a lot to work on.”

The fire triggered multiple alarms, and the roof of the building which houses Zorba’s Restaurant partially collapsed, according to the press release. In addition to Zorba’s Restaurant, the affected building houses University LAS offices, as well as Mia Za’s Cafe, Pitaya clothing store and an apartment.

Matt Mortenson, owner of Zorba’s Restaurant, said after he saw smoke coming out of the apartment above his restaurant at 7:45 a.m., he called 911.

Mortenson said his biggest concern now is water damage, saying he believed the fire was mainly on the upper floors.

“I’ve been there when our basement has flooded from heavy rains, back before they fixed the storm system out here … so I can only imagine what this was like,” Mortenson said. “We’ll just take it one step at a time and see what we can do from here.”

Zorba’s had been in the same location since 1973, and Mortenson, who had worked there since 1982, became an owner in 1997.

“All four of my kids work with me as well, so it’s really a family business,” he said. “I don’t even know what to think.”

Cody Crouse, freshman in DGS and a Zorba’s regular, said one of his biggest concerns was the sports memorabilia the restaurant kept, much of it revolving around the Illini men’s basketball team’s run to the championship game in the 2005 NCAA tournament.

“All those newspaper clippings, they’re never going to get back,” Crouse said.

Miriam Booth, general manager for Bankier Apartments, said the affected buildings included 621 and 623 East Green Street.

“We’ve been told that we’ve sustained heavy smoke damage,” she said.

Booth said the buildings house businesses such as Sushi Rock and Casablanca on the first floor, while the second floor contains four townhouses with a total of 16 tenants.

“The fire department (Champaign) said the fire stopped at the fire wall at our building, but was otherwise expected to continue west down Green Street,” Booth said. She added that the townhomes and fire wall are only a year and a half old.

Te’ Shurt’ had only slight damage, as the antenna for its Internet was “blasted” from the roof by water used to fight the fire, said Jeff Fassett, owner of the store. He said their gas was also shut off for safety reasons Wednesday.

Cocomero sustained water damage, Fassett said.

Tom Bruno, Champaign City Council Member-At Large, was at the scene of the fire as it began. He said the fire required immense man power, including aid from the Champaign and Urbana fire departments.

“I think we’re going to have massive property damage loss on the south side of Green Street,” Bruno said. “Several buildings were heavily damaged, one or two buildings entirely lost.”

The Champaign Police Department advised motorists on Wednesday to avoid the 400 to 600 blocks of Green Street and the 600 to 700 block of South Sixth Street, due to the fire. No injuries were reported, according to Bruno.

Bruno added that Campustown will not likely see a standstill, regardless of damage caused by the fire.

“In this environment, where land is valuable, and there are 40,000 students who want places to eat, shop, live, I won’t be surprised to see repairs started within weeks or certainly a couple of months,” he said.

Present at the time of the fire, John Palmer, junior in Business, was satisfied with the actions taken by the city and the University.

“I think that they handled (the fire) pretty well; they closed it up and took care of it,” said Palmer. “They may have opened (Green Street) a little too prematurely, but I think they were just trying to restore traffic.”