Rain poured relentlessly as Cyndi and Bruce Fields gazed out the window of their dark and empty restaurant.

Some lunch-pursuing customers approached the front door, only to discover it was locked and displayed a “sorry, we’re closed” notice. They peered briefly inside, then walked away.

“It’s just tough,” Bruce Fields said while sitting at a quiet table inside his recently-closed operation, Fields & Co., a restaurant that rests openly at the corner of A Street and First Street Southwest. “We were bold enough to try.”

In a tough economy, an ambitious Auburn couple’s sweet dreams of sustaining a full-service restaurant turned sour. Few couples would launch their first restaurant in a deep recession, but the Fields were resolute.

The Fields admit they made their share of mistakes after they opened the doors to their 2,900-square-foot, 65-seat restaurant last May. They were enthusiastic, creative, and even acknowledged they stepped into the fray with little industry experience. Nonetheless, they were willing to tackle the learning curve and capture the imagination and appetites of costumers, including those train commuters coming and going from the nearby rails.

The tasty menu received favorable reviews. But the staff experienced turnover. The service was awkward, overwhelmed at times. The restaurant simply struggled to find an identity.

“We had our good days, but not so many,” said Bruce Fields, who put in his share of 14-hour shifts to make his business work.

In the end, it just didn’t happen.

“We knew what needed to be done, we just didn’t have the means to do it,” Bruce Fields said. “Who knew? All the signs were there, but we were pretty committed. … We let others convince us of what to do, instead of what we wanted to do. This went beyond our scope.”

All along they imagined owning and operating a “small and manageable coffeehouse” in a small town. But what they commanded was something larger, more complex than what they originally had in mind.

The Fields still have the desire to run that coffeehouse, perhaps in an Oregon town someday, but that will be put on hold as they begin to crawl out of their financial hole. Still, they remain optimistic. They intend to pick up the pieces, salvage whatever is left of their business pride, and move on. “It just wasn’t time meant,” Cyndi Fields said.

If the loss of Fields & Co. is any indication, then Auburn and other similar communities have a ways to go in the recovery process. The recession continues to hit hard at home. Businesses, especially small family-owned enterprises, are having trouble staying open.

Along Main Street, the reminders are there. Some buildings are empty, others need a face lift.

One coffee house left, another replaced it.

Gone is Cavanaugh Ace Hardware. Relocated is Marvel Food & Deli, which can be found farther down on C Street Southwest.

A block north of Fields & Co., at the corner of A Street Southwest and West Main, sits an empty restaurant with potential. What was once the The Pit Restaurant & Bar is now “for rent” ground-floor space, a block without a party.

Across from the vacated Pit stands the former Liquidation Outlet store in disrepair.

Despite the welcome arrival of the Auburn Professional Plaza, downtown Auburn remains in flux, disjointed and bitten by a lingering recession. It is a sign of the times, where the health care community continues to thrive, evidenced by the expansion at Auburn Regional Medical Center, and where other downtown businesses continue to toil.

In the wake of the climate, downtown leaders need to come together and strike a consensus. A dysfunctional downtown association needs to come together, now, more than ever. More cooperation, more forward thinking, more fresh ideas are needed.

Such a downtown turnaround will take more time. As the economy stumbles in search of a revival, the future remains uncertain. The Fields can attest to that.

“We wanted to bring life to downtown,” Cyndi Fields said. “There’s not a shortage of people who want to come downtown, but they need a reason to come downtown.”

The Fields, who have lived in Auburn for 15 years, wanted to be a part of it. They brought an idea. They were bold to try.

Now, they will try elsewhere.