Our work to repair the extensive structural damage from the flooding in late June continues. The basement was flooded up to the floorboards with water and sewage. Several dedicated volunteers came to wade through the muck to haul out the hundreds of bicycles and bike parts, tools, and other WBRP supplies which were all destined for either metal recycling or the large roll-off dumpster we filled. A huge thank you to the volunteers who came to do that work, including Coucilperson Ward, Mayor Mwilambwe. The basement flooding damaged our lighting and plumbing, and we're still working to finalize those repairs. The WBRP basement also needed professional sewage and mold remediation, which is almost complete.
The main part of the building also had several inches of standing water which damaged the main floor. We have plans to have all the tiles and subflooring removed and replaced sometime next month.
We were closed most of July, but have recently re-opened temporarily, until the re-flooring project begins sometime in August. We are open during our regular hours now for the Tool Library, and the Bike Co-op has limited service offerings on Saturdays only.
We had an overwhelming response after we sent out our last request for donations, and we are so grateful to everyone who contributed to our flood repair fund! Unfortunately, our insurance coverage, and generous donations from the community only covers about 50% of the total costs for building repair and materials replacement.
Your financial contributions of any amount will help us cover the full costs of professional mold/sewage remediation, flooring removal and replacement, inventory replacement, electrical work, plumbing work, and the more long-term structural upgrades we need to make to prevent future flood damage to our space.
In the near future, when we have a better idea of what inventory we lost, we will also create a wish list to see if our community is able to donate any tools or bicycles / bike parts to help us replace what we lost. We ask that donations of items are not made at this time though as we do not have space to accept or store items until we can get the building fully repaired and sanitized.
We are all aware we are not the only ones that suffered damage from this unprecedented weather event, and we hope all of you are fairly well now and getting any help you might need. We are open now, do if there are tools you need to borrow for any repair work in your home or business, come on over!
Thank you for your continued support. We are so fortunate to be a part of such a loving community.
Warm Regards,
Larissa Armstrong
WBRP Board President