Demolition at the Lazy K: Tearing down walls and building TCW in Columbia

Well, folks. It has begun! 

We spent two weeks with Steve Sensenig of Revolution Concept tearing down walls, ripping up floors, and finding all sorts of treasures at the Lazy K, the future home of The Common Wheel in Columbia!

16 volunteers, from teenagers to septuagenarians, joined us to make the work go very quickly. The building is now prepped and ready to be painted, have floors refinished and re-laid, and bathrooms with a floor pitched at a comical angle that will be rebuilt, we are ready to get to work. Have I mentioned that our vastly multi-talented staff helped out with the project too? They didn’t want to miss out on the fun!

The bathrooms are our biggest project. When we initially looked at the building, we had anticipated only installing one bathroom and partitioning off space for a closet/utility sink scenario. After spending more time in the space and seeing what we really were working with we were able to realize a kind of dream goal, to have two fully functioning bathrooms with one having a shower in it for employee use. This is really important to us because we want to encourage employees to utilize their bikes as their main form of transportation as much as possible or utilize RRTA, which has fantastic service between Lancaster and Columbia. It will also allow us to apply to be a Bicycle Friendly Business at a higher level through the League of American Cyclists. Amenities like these are ones we advocate for in places of business all the time, and it is one we hope to provide and are happy the reality is coming true.

In the coming months, we’ll be welcoming CareerLink apprentices to assist with the rest of the buildout. We also hope to continue to work with volunteer groups, scout troops, and various other entities to continue to make the Lazy K, no wait, The Common Wheel in Columbia (it’s a hard habit to break, folks!) a truly community-built endeavor.

Keep following along for more updates, pictures, and thoughts and we continue on this journey!