Company to salvage, sell bits of Walton building
WALTON — A half-dozen young men with hammers and crowbars descended on the old Walton Trail Co. building on Wednesday.
Their bright yellow T-shirts were wet from the heat, but you could still read the words: “Don’t Dump It, Donate It!”
Soon, boards, aluminum, oak flooring, wainscotting and trim from the old bike shop and a vacant house next door were piled high outside 118th and A streets.
And so the century-old building on Walton’s main drag began its transition from fact to memory, much the way it likely went up — nail by nail, swing by swing, all by hand.
“This would be so much easier with a saw,” said Sam Kolar, 17, straining to pull a 2-by-4 from a doorway and lamenting the lack of electricity.
EcoStores Nebraska is using the old Walton Trail Co. building and adjacent house as a first project for its new Deconstruction Services team, said Steve Liechti, deconstruction manager.
Bulldozers soon will deliver final blows to the two buildings, but for now, the young men are learning how a building goes together in reverse, by taking it all apart.
“It’s fun,” said James Fuller, 23, while pulling down ceiling lathe. Fuller said he got involved with the deconstruction team as part of his probation. “I’m learning skills so I can get a better job later.”
The deconstruction team draws people in their late teens and early 20s from the Lincoln Action Program; from HUB, a life skills program for those ages 16-24; and from past volunteers of EcoStores Nebraska.
“We’re trying to give some of them a second start,” Liechti said.
And give second wind to the products they salvage.
Anyone who wants a souvenir of the old bike shop soon can find an oak beam or counter at the EcoStores warehouse at 530 W. P St., where materials that could have been tossed in a landfill are resold at a discount.
“We’re kind of like the Goodwill of Menard’s,” Liechti said.
Liechti thought he could salvage $6,000 in materials from the two buildings, which could have been burned under earlier plans.
New owners William and Lisa Ross of Eagle had applied for a burn permit for the Walton Trail Co. building and house next door.
An inspection of the building prior to the burn revealed rubber items, foam insulation and appliances that must be removed before the county would allow it to be burned, said Rick Thorson, environmental health supervisor in air quality for the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.
The burn slated for last Saturday was called off, which pleased EcoStores and the health department.
“It’s the preferred method for us anyway,” Thorson said of the demolition and salvage.
Even without the burn, the southeast corner of 118th and A streets will look much different.
The Ross family declined to disclose their plans for the site.
But the old Walton Trail Co. building extends 15 feet into the roadway of A Street, said Mike DeKalb of the city-county Planning Department.
Also, because that lot is zoned for business, a new building would need to be set back 20 feet from each property line.
“In this case, the property line is not where the driving surface ends,” DeKalb said.
Jo Gutgsell, president of the Preservation Association of Lincoln, was concerned about those setback changes. Gutgsell said that, for the past six weeks, she has been exploring options for saving the Walton Trail Co. building.
The former Lincoln City Council member said she was concerned the required setbacks would leave little space for a new building.
“The little towns around Lincoln are becoming bedroom communities, and if you change their look considerably, that fabric and identity is gone,” she said.
Around Walton, few people turned out Wednesday morning to witness the start of the building’s demise. Several cars drove slowly past the yellow-clad team working. But onlookers who were on foot were few, Liechti said.
At the town elevator, Walton native Rick Hodtwalker said locals are more curious about what new business soon may come to Walton.
“You hate to see a landmark go down, but if it’s just going to set empty anyway, this is better than it becoming an eyesore.”
He used to drink beer at the building when it was Willie’s Tavern. And he bought candy at a grocery store there when he went to school nearby in the 1960s.
Still, he was not too concerned about the demolition.
“And I’m as sentimental as anyone,” he said jokingly.
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
Their bright yellow T-shirts were wet from the heat, but you could still read the words: “Don’t Dump It, Donate It!”
Soon, boards, aluminum, oak flooring, wainscotting and trim from the old bike shop and a vacant house next door were piled high outside 118th and A streets.
And so the century-old building on Walton’s main drag began its transition from fact to memory, much the way it likely went up — nail by nail, swing by swing, all by hand.
“This would be so much easier with a saw,” said Sam Kolar, 17, straining to pull a 2-by-4 from a doorway and lamenting the lack of electricity.
EcoStores Nebraska is using the old Walton Trail Co. building and adjacent house as a first project for its new Deconstruction Services team, said Steve Liechti, deconstruction manager.
Bulldozers soon will deliver final blows to the two buildings, but for now, the young men are learning how a building goes together in reverse, by taking it all apart.
“It’s fun,” said James Fuller, 23, while pulling down ceiling lathe. Fuller said he got involved with the deconstruction team as part of his probation. “I’m learning skills so I can get a better job later.”
The deconstruction team draws people in their late teens and early 20s from the Lincoln Action Program; from HUB, a life skills program for those ages 16-24; and from past volunteers of EcoStores Nebraska.
“We’re trying to give some of them a second start,” Liechti said.
And give second wind to the products they salvage.
Anyone who wants a souvenir of the old bike shop soon can find an oak beam or counter at the EcoStores warehouse at 530 W. P St., where materials that could have been tossed in a landfill are resold at a discount.
“We’re kind of like the Goodwill of Menard’s,” Liechti said.
Liechti thought he could salvage $6,000 in materials from the two buildings, which could have been burned under earlier plans.
New owners William and Lisa Ross of Eagle had applied for a burn permit for the Walton Trail Co. building and house next door.
An inspection of the building prior to the burn revealed rubber items, foam insulation and appliances that must be removed before the county would allow it to be burned, said Rick Thorson, environmental health supervisor in air quality for the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.
The burn slated for last Saturday was called off, which pleased EcoStores and the health department.
“It’s the preferred method for us anyway,” Thorson said of the demolition and salvage.
Even without the burn, the southeast corner of 118th and A streets will look much different.
The Ross family declined to disclose their plans for the site.
But the old Walton Trail Co. building extends 15 feet into the roadway of A Street, said Mike DeKalb of the city-county Planning Department.
Also, because that lot is zoned for business, a new building would need to be set back 20 feet from each property line.
“In this case, the property line is not where the driving surface ends,” DeKalb said.
Jo Gutgsell, president of the Preservation Association of Lincoln, was concerned about those setback changes. Gutgsell said that, for the past six weeks, she has been exploring options for saving the Walton Trail Co. building.
The former Lincoln City Council member said she was concerned the required setbacks would leave little space for a new building.
“The little towns around Lincoln are becoming bedroom communities, and if you change their look considerably, that fabric and identity is gone,” she said.
Around Walton, few people turned out Wednesday morning to witness the start of the building’s demise. Several cars drove slowly past the yellow-clad team working. But onlookers who were on foot were few, Liechti said.
At the town elevator, Walton native Rick Hodtwalker said locals are more curious about what new business soon may come to Walton.
“You hate to see a landmark go down, but if it’s just going to set empty anyway, this is better than it becoming an eyesore.”
He used to drink beer at the building when it was Willie’s Tavern. And he bought candy at a grocery store there when he went to school nearby in the 1960s.
Still, he was not too concerned about the demolition.
“And I’m as sentimental as anyone,” he said jokingly.
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
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