Zola Dore isn't sure how she'll proceed with replacing the main location for her Midnight Sun Coffee Roaster business that burned to the ground last Wednesday.

Efforts are already underway to replace the commercial roaster destroyed in the early-morning blaze with a roaster on loan from Cowboy Coffee of Vancouver, she explained this morning. She had been in California at the time of the fire, but has returned to Whitehorse.

Dore expects the roaster to arrive Friday, and hopes to have a suitable location picked out by then.

It would be another week or so to make the necessary renovations to the building with the necessary chimney work and such, she estimates.

She said she's not sure whether she'll pursue another main location that served both as the commercial roasting facility and a coffee shop and restaurant.

One thing is certain, said Dore: no matter what the future brings, there can never be a duplication of the atmosphere and ambiance of the Fourth Avenue and Black Street location that opened in December 1997.

'I put my heart and sole into that, and that is something that cannot be replicated,' she said. 'You just can't duplicate it.'

Dore said she hopes her clientele will appreciate the old shop for what it was, and enjoy anything new that she comes up with.

Many over the last week have praised the Midnight Sun business as an ardent supporter and promoter of arts in the community, and several other non-profit organizations.

While waiting to get the roaster operational at a new location, J.J. Bean House of Coffee, a four-store Vancouver franchise started by her uncle and where Dore learned to roast, will be supplying the Midnight Sun with its needs, she said.

Dore said J.J. Bean produces a similar product to the Midnight Sun.

The cause of the blaze remains unknown, though the investigation is ongoing.

It's believed the fire started in the south end of the building where The Nest second-hand furniture store was located.

Whitehorse Fire Chief Clive Sparks estimated the value of the building and goods lost in the fire was likely in the neighbourhood of several hundred thousand dollars.

Dore said the fire came as Midnight Sun was already stretched thin financially, having just opened the Main Street location last March and the shop in the new Canada Games Centre last month.

Support from the community, she said, has been enormous, and there are those who recognize what Midnight Sun has given to the community. They are now stepping forward to make sure the business doesn't lose everything while waiting for the insurance settlement.

Of the 10 or so full- and part-time staff working at the Fourth and Black location, attempts are being made to squeeze them in at the other two locations, and they are immediately eligible to collect employment insurance, Dore explained.

They are great staff, she said, adding she doesn't want to lose them.

Dave Avoledo, co-owner of The Nest, said last week he has to wait to see how insurance matters come out before he can say what the future holds for the business.

As well, Con Lattin, the owner of the building, said until matters are settled, it's not possible to say if he'll rebuild the structure that started out in the early 1940s as the site for the Pepsi-Cola mixing and bottling plant.

It remained the home of Northland Beverages until the business moved to Copper Road in 1991.