By Chelsea Vance | The Selma Times-Journal

Despite being flooded between Christmas and New Year’s, The Sand Bar restaurant hopes to return to the Selma City Marina.

Employees and volunteers with Pepsi Bottling Group were working Wednesday to salvage equipment.

“Pepsi here in Selma has been amazing,” said Sand Bar manager Kim Morris. “They are going to help us any way that they can. They are going to take stuff to the plant, clean it up and get everything back to showroom quality.”

Morris said she felt like she needed to get back and start cleaning up.

“I have to do something to make it better. I can’t just sit at home,” Morris said.

She hopes most of the equipment can be salvaged. The building itself will not be as fortunate.

Plans are for a total demolition in the week again. Morris said she hopes the restaurant will be built bigger and better and able to weather floods, which have caused it to close twice since 2014.

Right now the restaurant and city are working on a long-term lease for the property.

“We are waiting on the mayor to sign the contract so that we can demolish the building. The new building will be put way up on stilts to the 100-year flood mark so that the water can actually flow under the building instead of through the building,” Morris said.

The new restaurant will be much larger and be able to seat more patrons.

“It’s just going to work better. We’re going to have more seating. The bar is going to be designed completely different so that every inch of space can be utilized,” Morris said. “The building will actually be bigger than this.”

She said that according to contractor Darrell Stewart, it would take at least six weeks to get The Sand Bar back open.

Nine people work at the bar and restaurant, which is located at 1 Marina Drive.