Employees at Matt's Building Materials are doing some building of their nearly a year after the locally owned store burned to the ground.

“It was just devastating, and I mean, it was just so hard,” Hilda Villarreal said. “It just held a lot of memories. I started as a young teenager and so you know it just grows on you; I mean my heart is here.”

For nearly 100 employees, Matt’s Building Materials was like a second home. Co-owner Isaac Smith said he wasn’t sure if the iconic Pharr location would be rebuilt.

But a groundbreaking held Thursday at the location of the former store is now bringing a renewed sense of hope.

The new facility will be 30,000 square feet and will include the store, retail spaces for lease and an event center. 

The entire project is expected to take anywhere from eight months to a year to complete.

Watch the video above for the full story. 

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