Peter Lunock and Ian Bagshaw talk about upcoming cycling events in the valley at Flywheel Bicycle Solutions, which is preparing to reopen. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
Peter Lunock works on cleaning at Talent in the Flywheel Bicycle Solutions showroom. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
The exterior of Flywheel Bicycle Solutions is being painted as the business prepares to reopen. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
More businesses in the Highway 99 Talent are reopening or completing new buildings two years after the Alameda Fire gutted the business district.
Flywheel Bicycle Solutions expects to open later this fall. Janke Heating & Air Conditioning is back in a new building, set for a grand opening event on October 8th. Valley Plastic Surgery has already reopened.
The Green Valley Pump office building is expected to be occupied by the end of the year. The construction of Star Body Works is underway and the Simple Machine Winery opened its new facility in October last year, one of the first buildings to be rebuilt in the zone. Some buildings east of the highway are outside the city limits.
Flywheel, at 550 S. Pacific Highway, will reopen with a new owner. Founder Ian Bagshaw has sold the business to administrator Pete Lunock but retains ownership of the building and property. Bagshaw will continue in the business but will transition from mechanical work.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while. After the fire, I was really upset. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back,” Bagshaw said. “The thought of starting over was terrifying. If Peter hadn’t encouraged me, I probably would have sold the property.
During the rebuild, the couple used blank slate to remodel the interior of the structure to better accommodate bike repairs and sales. It was a hamburger joint and then a beauty college. It is on the same footprint as the old building.
The business will continue to sell beer, wine and cider at the inside bar, popularly attracting more motorists and food trucks. With the rebuild, the facility is better positioned to accommodate food trucks.
“I am working on cabinet construction, workbench, base construction. “Most of the time, we’re finishing up the interior,” said Lunock, who had been the manager for two and a half years before the fire.
“Having a blank slate really freed us up to improve the layout and make the workstation flow better. Also, we won’t have walls and pillars for all the guests to interact with,” Lunock said.
Supply chain issues caused by the pandemic are worsening, Lunock said. After the high demand during the first year of the epidemic, the bicycle market has weakened a bit. He’s already got bikes for sale, and more are coming.
Green Valley Pump’s new office building at 609 S. Pacific Highway is closed. Green Valley may have relocated after the fire, but the business still owns the lot, operations manager Leigh Johnson said. Everything at the site was burnt, including three buildings and three vehicles.
“The office location is up to the city and the county. The hope is by the end of the year, we’ll be up and running,” Johnson said. The company started with Talent in the 1970s. The site is outside city limits.
Estimates of nearly $1 million to rebuild the store have kept it from rebuilding at this time. Green Valley operations are back in place three months after the fire. A trailer is used for office, and large metal shipping containers are configured for workshop and storage.
Janke moved out of White City after the fire and moved to Tallent on 112 S. The Pacific Highway returns. A grand opening is set for Saturday, Oct. 8, and the Humane Society of Southern Oregon will offer pet adoptions during the event. A large new steel building will replace the burned structure. The company has been based on talent since 1987.
The front of the former steel building, which survived the fire with damage to the rear, is under construction on the Star Body Works property at 1119 S. Pacific Highway at the south end of the business corridor. The property is outside city limits.
“The back part will be re-glued. We had to replace some of the red metal,” says JR Lammensdorf, the owner of the business. .
The paint shop is located in a metal building, and the business aims to reopen the space by the end of the year. A new black top and terrain are installed on the front. The fence of the site is partially completed and will be completed after work on the buildings.
Valley Plastic Surgery, 280 S.Ct. Pacific Highway, reopened after reconstruction. An administrator was not available to discuss details.
Owners Clea Arthur and Brian Denner opened the space at 717 S.C. in October of last year after remodeling. They opened a simple machine winery and tasting room on Pacific Highway. They used the 2,700 square meter concrete pad from the original structure but reconfigured it to better accommodate winemaking.
The land occupied by the Goodnight Inn Motel at 210 N. Pacific Highway before the fire is now licensed for commercial and residential development, although work has not yet begun.
Also, Snap Fitness in Talent Saturday, reopened in a new building off Highway 99 at 245 W. Valley View Road. The grand re-opening of the new club was on Friday, September 30, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Talent lost 61 commercial structures in the fire. So far, 10 permits have been issued to rebuild on those sites, Community Development Director Christine Maze reported.
Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at tboomwriter@gmail.com.
