The Looney Bin is back: Restaurant reopens doors after summer car crash

LACONIA — The Looney Bin Bar & Grill opened its doors last weekend for the first time since a car crashed into it, injuring patrons and forcing it to close, during the July 4 weekend.

On July 6, a car attempting to exit the Funspot parking lot collided with an oncoming SUV, causing the car to swerve off the road and into the face of the restaurant. Fourteen people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No criminal charges were filed because of the crash.

After construction on the building finished early last week, owner Michelle Watson said the “Bin” — as it is often called by its regular customers — held a special reopening event Friday night for only those present when the crash occurred.

It was a kind of “redo” for those customers, Watson said. She noticed that most of them sat at the same tables they had on the day of the crash.

On Saturday, the Bin's doors formally reopened, and Watson said there was a line out the door. The entire staff, some of whom have worked there since it opened in 2005, returned.

“It felt like normal,” Watson said. 

The damage had been extensive, wiping out or compromising much of the building’s plumbing, including its bathroom, its major appliances and the bar itself.

The renovations needed ended up being even bigger than expected, Watson said, and setbacks in the construction process were “defeating.”

Watson emphasized her gratitude for the positivity of her staff and the generous support of the wider community. A GoFundMe campaign to help sustain staff while the restaurant remained closed more than doubled its $10,000 goal, raising more than $25,000. 

Now hosting customers again, the restaurant is “the same, but different,” Watson said. “It’s the same feeling, the same atmosphere.” There were some small changes, too: the bar was slightly extended and the restroom is now accessible to those with physical disabilities. Another addition: a row of black bollards protecting the building from a repeat ordeal.