As you may have heard on the news or seen on social media, our building was hit hard by last weekend’s flooding, and we have suffered extensive damage and materials loss. Our basement ended up with broken pipes resulting in a large quantity of flooding and sewage back-up. This damaged many of the bikes and tools stored in the basement, wiped out our electricity, and made our plumbing un-usable. On the main floor, water from the street breached the front door and damaged our flooring and some equipment and tools there too.
The extent of the damage is still not known, and we have a lot of cleaning up to do. We had to close the building until we can get things more under control and make the building safe to use again. Our insurance will likely cover some of the repairs and equipment replacement, but I am certain our needs will go beyond what we can currently afford.
Financial contributions of any amount will help us cover the costs of cleaning and sanitizing, flooring repair, inventory replacement, and the more long-term structural upgrades we need to make to prevent future damage to our space. Donations can be made online or by sending a check to our building on 724 W. Washington Street.
In the near future, when we have a better idea of what inventory we lost, we will likely 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 repaired and sanitized.
We are all too aware we are not the only ones that suffered damage from this unprecedented weather event, and we hope all of you are managing to get your basements cleared out and cleaned up too. We are eager to get cleaned up and re-open so we can be available to lend tools to those who might need them for repair work in their homes.
Thank you for your continued support. We are so fortunate to be a part of such a loving community.