It has been seven months since a fire ripped through several businesses and claimed 30 jobs in Whitehall. Now, the town is making a run at revitalization and its members have some busy Thursdays ahead of them.

The Whitehall Chamber of Commerce and Jefferson Local Development Corporation have teamed up to schedule community forum events,  the first of which was held last night.

Next week's forum focuses on capitalizing on the town's assets.

October 29, is a major event for discussion. A panel of local business people will brainstorm ideas for attracting businesses to Whitehall.

On November 5, the owners of the Sweet Palace candy shop and Sapphire Gallery in Philipsburg will talk about how to invest in a small town and they will bring candy for everybody.

The final forum will be a call to action on November 12 where residents will finalize ideas to present to town officials.

The town is already making steps to rebuilding with the opening of a new restaurant. The new eatery is expected to open in four to five weeks.

B-B's Sports Arena will take over the location of the Crazy Bear Pizza Parlor and will offer a sports bar menu and serve beer and wine, according to its owner and former assistant Butte High School Principal Bill Brown. Brown and his wife formerly owned B-B's Casino in Butte, which is now the Happy Endings Casino. He says he's excited to open the business even in the aftermath of the fire.

"Yeah, it's exciting. I feel good about Whitehall. Whitehall is a wonderful place to live. A lot of good people here, and it's an opportunity. The other major restaurant burned down as a part of the fire and the pizza place wasn't doing very well so we thought we could combine the two and make one real good thing," Brown said.

The restaurant will be located at 13 West Legion Street next to the site of the fire.