CEDAR RAPIDS , Iowa ( CNN ) -- Doug Ward drives through a subdivision made up of rows of trailers . You can hear the sadness in his voice as he says , `` This just does n't feel like home . '' He longs for the life he lived before devastating floods destroyed his Cedar Rapids neighborhood . The A & W Drive-In in Cedar Rapids was Doug Ward 's life for 30 years . `` I want to come back . I miss ( my friends ) very much , '' Ward said as he escorted CNN on a tour of Cedar Rapids , Iowa , nearly a year after the floods . Ward , 64 , is an institution in the historic Time Check neighborhood just across the Cedar River from downtown . He owns the A & W Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard , a fixture on this street since 1948 . Historian Mark Stoffer Hunter calls the drive-in Cedar Rapids ' `` Eiffel Tower . '' `` It 's been there for us over the decades , '' Hunter said . `` It 's one of those landmarks that tells you you 're in Cedar Rapids . '' When floodwaters ravaged Cedar Rapids last June , Ward 's drive-in drowned in almost 10 feet of water . Now , the drive-in sits in ruins . A & W root beer mugs covered in dried mud sit on the restaurant floor . The stench of floodwater lingers in the air . Putting together the pieces of Ward 's life hit a snag in the fall of 2008 when an economic storm swept across the country . In a matter of months , the financial support Ward needed to rebuild dried up . `` Life 's got to go on . If you sit and worry about it too much , you 'd probably be at my funeral today , '' Ward said . Watch as Ward talks about the devastation in Cedar Rapids » . Ward estimates that it will cost close to $ 1 million to rebuild the A & W Drive-In at its current location . He 's been able to line up $ 350,000 in loans , but that 's far short of what he needs . `` The idea that he might not be able to rebuild the business here , it hurts , '' said Stoffer , the Cedar Rapids historian . `` It 's happening not just in this neighborhood , but in all the neighborhoods that were affected by the floods . '' So now Ward spends a lot of time driving around Cedar Rapids scouting new locations . He wants to stay on Ellis Boulevard , but the surrounding neighborhood sits mostly empty . If people do n't move back , then there are no customers to feed . `` If the neighborhood were normal again , we 'd be up and running . But it 's not , '' Ward said . Ward not only lost his business , but the house he and his wife lived in for 28 years was destroyed , too . The house today sits gutted . The flood weakened the foundation . Three estimates show it will cost $ 85,000 to make the needed repairs . FEMA gave the Wards $ 28,000 toward the costs of rebuilding their home or buying a new one . But without home insurance , it 's another cost in Ward 's mounting pile of financial troubles . Ward said if he ca n't get his business up and running soon , he 'll have to find another job . He 's tapped into retirement savings extensively , and he 's received some financial support ( he wo n't specify how much ) from other sources . Ward is soft spoken , yet tough . He 's faced difficult struggles all his life . His father died when he was 5 . He dropped out of school after eighth grade to earn money for his family . At 13 , he worked in a dry milk factory and spent 10 years working as a Coca-Cola delivery man . Owning the A & W Drive-In was a dream that produced a comfortable living . Now he misses the days serving his friends icy-cold root beers . But you wo n't hear him complain about the battle he 's facing . `` I 've been knocked around , but we 'll get up and get going , '' he said .
The A & W in Cedar Rapids was Doug Ward 's life for 30 years until last year 's flood . He is now a retired farmer and lives on his farm with his wife, son and daughter. The drive-in has been a landmark in the Time Check neighborhood since 1948 . It will cost upward of $ 1 million to rebuild or change locations .