LEWISTOWN — Devastating.

That’s the one word that came to Rhonda Moore’s mind when she heard about the Lewistown location of Bon-Ton closing. As executive director of the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce, Moore she is discouraged by the news since the area has been seeing such positive development in amenities and quality of life with the new wineries, breweries and coffee shops popping up in the area.

“We were gaining momentum,” Moore said. “That’s the hardest thing. This may set us on our heels for a moment, but we will regroup and go on.”

As the news of the closure of the popular downtown store spread, other community leaders felt the sting of the news.

“First and foremost, the impact this has on the dedicated employees, many who have been there for years,” Jim Zubler, executive director of Downtown Lewistown Inc. said. “The Lewistown store, by all indications, was the most profitable in the chain. I think that relates to the loyalty that shoppers in this community have provided to them.”

Opening in 1957 in Lewistown, the store currently has 44 full and part time employees, Moore said for many of the employees this is the only job they have ever known.

“It may be difficult to find other positions without another major retailer to absorb the employees,” Moore said.

Other community members effected by the closure are the elderly people who were able to easily walk to the downtown store from their homes. Moore said many elderly are not comfortable traveling to find a comparable department store.

Going forward, Zubler is hopeful to see the amount of support this store had translate to a new owner.

“The community has shown its resilience prior when the community rehabilitated the former Danks building and other developments,” he said.

Moore hopes someone will be enticed to take over the place with something comparable because the store was a huge amenity that was taken for granted and the closure will leave a “gaping hole.”

Not only will the community miss the store, but Moore said personally it was a big part of her life ever since she was a child.

“It’s the end of an era,” she said.

Jon Zimmerman, a member of the Board of Directors for Downtown Lewistown Inc., said, “We’ve taken negatives in the past and made them into positives. We will try to do it here. This is awful news because it’s a keystone property. It’s been a great part of the community.”

Moore ended by saying, “This may have took the wind out of our sails, but the ship has not sunk.”

A spokesman for the Lewistown store said no word has been given to when the store will be closing, but many of the customers on Wednesday were very kind and empathetic.