Jefferson City dealership rebuilding, collision center open, other services to follow

JEFFERSON CITY — It's been a long few weeks of rebuilding for Co-Owner and President of Riley Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Riley Toyota Kevin Riley and his crew of 125 full time employees.

"Right now it's a massive cleanup," he said.

It's been nearly three weeks since the EF3 tornado ripped through the dealership leaving hundreds of new and used cars damage, as well as the Chevrolet building. Riley said on Monday, the warehouse where their truck lot stood was being cleaned up, the Chevrolet building debris has been removed, and he said the lots are still in the process of being cleaned.

"It's unbelievable how much glass is around, we've been talking about getting the glass out of the grass and out front of the dealership," he said.

Moving forward, Riley said he is in the process of signing a contract to move to a temporary location on 3205 Missouri Boulevard, where Kia once was. Riley Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac operations are expected to be moved into that building in the next six weeks Riley said. He said they're hoping to be in the temporary location for anywhere from six months to a year until the original location is rebuilt. He said they'll be conducting sales of of new and used cars in the next three weeks and hope to be servicing out of the temporary location within eight weeks.

Riley Toyota didn't get as much damage, and Riley said they're hoping to have the building up and fully operating in the next six months however, he said in the next week and a half, there will be a double wide trailer coming in so they can do sales in and then later, they'll be able to service cars.

"We're trying to move as fast as we can, we want to be back in business, we want to take care of our customers like we have since 1936," he said.

He estimated about 750 vehicles that were marked totaled or salvaged from tornado damage. He said salvage businesses have been able to buy them, but he said they're unable to sell them due to the electronics within the vehicle.

"All the other dealers are being good to us and giving us what we need," he said.

He said the dealership is still selling cars and its Collision Center is fully functioning. Customers are able to stop by for any work they may need done on their vehicle. It's located in the far back of the Chevrolet building location.

Riley said the community support has been outstanding from the linemen, to city leaders to businesses to people of the community.