Crews work to repair the new LA Fitness building, while the woman charged with the damage faces a judge.

Dara M. Howard, 35, of Springfield faced a judge Monday after allegedly causing more than $100,000 in damage to the brand-new LA Fitness building, and then leaving the scene early Sunday morning.

Police say they caught up with Howard in the parking lot of the Basketball Hall of Fame after she was seen driving the wrong way on West Columbus Boulevard. She also had severe front end damage to her SUV.

"The Commonwealth does believe that she would have been able to flee the scene of the accident, had not the trooper taken such quick action," said a prosecutor in District Court Monday.

Howard is charged with operating under the influence, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident, which she adamantly denies.

"There is no indication that my client's car was the one that hit that electrical box," said Howard's defense attorney.

The key piece of evidence both parties said, will be the tire tracks left at the scene. Meanwhile, crews worked to replace the destroyed electrical transformer. They spent the majority of Monday afternoon running cables underground.

Inside, the effort to clean up the water and smoke damage inside LA Fitness continues.

"[The cleanup] started yesterday morning. It's continuing today and it will probably continue a few more days to clean any smoke damage. All the equipment is being cleaned, the ceilings, etc.," said Peter Pappas, owner of the new riverfront complex, located at the old Basketball Hall of Fame.

Onyx Fusion Bar, on the other hand suffered no damage, only a loss of power. But, that was enough to cancel 300 reservations at the new restaurant for Mother's Day. One of them was for the owner, himself.

"My mom was coming with my sisters and my family. We all had to make arrangements, otherwise and I was disappointed we couldn't accommodate our guests, but we hope that we can find a way to make it up to everybody," he said.

Pappas said Onyx will re-open Tuesday for dinner service. LA Fitness, which sustained quite a bit of smoke and water damage, may not re-open for another few days.

Meanwhile, Howard, who is a supervisory accountant with the State of Connecticut, was released on $1,000 bail, plus personal surety. Her next court appearance is scheduled for June 16 in District Court.