Amsbury Glass Inc., a longtime Spokane commercial glass supplier, has closed its doors and its owners have sought protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

Don Michael "Mike" Amsbury and Donna Amsbury, the company's owners, each has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, citing primarily business debts of about $515,000, and assets of about $196,000. They closed Amsbury Glass around Dec. 1 and have liquidated its inventory and assets, with the exception of some accounts receivable, says their attorney, John Bury.

Amsbury Glass was begun by Mike Amsbury's late father, Don, in 1966. Bury says that like other companies, it struggled in the recession as commercial construction activity was curtailed here.

"Basically, the company is a victim of the downturn, really," Bury says. "As a result of no lending for commercial development, we've seen a lot of contractors large and small have no business. The Amsburys' situation is the next step out; the trades or the contractors now have no business."

Bury says the couple doesn't plan to open another business, and Mike Amsbury likely will seek other work in the field.

Amsbury Glass employed 10 union and 5 nonunion employees when it closed, he says. Included among the creditors is the Albert Cloninger Trust, which the filing says is owed $45,000 for an unexpired lease of a building at 204 E. Nora that housed Amsbury Glass. Windermere/Manito LLC is marketing the property and hopes to lease it out or sell it, says real estate agent Bart Cloninger.

The largest unsecured debt listed in the filings is $61,000 for employee benefits owed to the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades Independent Pension Fund. The largest secured claim cited is for $118,000 owed to Everhome Mortgage, of Industry, Calif., for a mortgage on the Amsburys' Spokane home.