The Grand View Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine, better known as the topless coffee shop, has reopened in a tent after someone deliberately set fire to the building and  burned it down.

Reopened is not exactly accurate, though. For starters, the waitresses aren’t topless anymore they’re wearing sweatshirts. Secondly, the owner - Donald Crabtree - isn’t selling anything. He’s giving away free doughnuts and coffee in a tent in the parking lot, and accepting donations to help rebuild the place.

And doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to get it going again any time soon. He’s got no money, and apparently the place wasn’t insured, and it’s going to take over $30k just to clear out the charred debris from the place. And then there’s the cost of rebuilding. He’s got no credit, and likely won’t be able to take out a loan.

To top that off (no pun intended), Vassalboro has also passed an ordinance placing strict controls on adult businesses. Also, the building -which was previously one of the Vassalboro motels - doubled as his family’s residence until it burned down, so Crabtree is now living off a motel.

It’s ironic that the owner of the of one of the most famous tourist attractions in Maine has to struggle so hard. There’s people - tourists, visitors, media crews - coming from all over the world to see the coffee shop. Donald Crabtree singlehandely put Vassalboro on the map.

And instead of thanking him for making their pathetic excuse of a town world-famous, the town is trying to destroy him.

Posted on June 13th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: Restaurants