For the stylists who work at the Auburn Valley Barber Shop, the completion of reconstructive therapy on their van-damaged building means a lot.

It means bidding goodbye to the cramped trailer where they had toiled for a month and a half and being back in the old, familiar digs.

OK, old, but not exactly familiar.

Missing is one of the shop’s outstanding features – a large, plate glass window that faced the Auburn Justice Center and East Main Street. No coincidence, but that happens to be the same window through which the van driven by an Auburn senior hurtled, scattering stylists, customers and debris. It has been replaced by a sober, and opaque gray wall.

“They took out the glass, so on the downside we can’t see runaway vans coming at us any more,” said stylist Randy Simon as he cut Jerry Helmick’s hair at Saturday morning’s grand reopening. “We have to be a little bit more vigilant now. On the other hand, we created a lot more space. It seems bigger than before.”

Customers liked what they were seeing.

“They did a real nice job with the remodel,” said Randy Vanderberg, a customer of Auburn Valley Barber Shop for four years.

“It’s a little different the way they’ve got it set up, but I think it’s perfect,” Rashaan Cornell said as he awaited for his turn in the chair. “Sometimes people don’t like being seen while they’re getting their hair cut, and without that window there, they have more of a sense of privacy. It looks good in here. I still think this is one of the best barber shops in town.”

Artemis Malone is happy to be back home.

“I didn’t like the trailer,” said the stylist. “It was too close, too confining too narrow. It was hot and uncomfortable for me.”

Malone, who suffered a mild concussion in the July 1 accident, recalled the events of that day.

“It’s a thing you see in movies not in real life,” Malone recalled. “You hear some guy hollering ‘Get out of the way, fool!’ and there you are, in your own movie!”

The driver, who suffered a stroke, first hit an 18-year-old man as he waited on the sidewalk for a bus east of the Auburn Justice Center in the 400 block of East Main Street. He sustained non life threatening injuries.

The Ford Aerostar continued west, hit a light pole, clipped the bumper on a second vehicle and careened down the street before striking some signs and smashing into the Auburn Valley Barber Shop.

The woman’s 60-something husband, who was a passenger, suffered non-life threatening injuries. Their granddaughter was unhurt.