COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local bike shop had to shut down operations after a car crashed into the side of it early Sunday morning.
The executive director of Franklinton Cycle Works, Jonathan Youngman, said this incident has taken an emotional toll on him, but he is thankful the building is still standing.
“The accident happened around 2 a.m. It seems like someone lost control of their vehicle and just kind of careened into the front of our bike shop here and took out kind of the western corner of our retail space,” Youngman said.
The bike shop is now assessing what its next steps are. The crash caused significant damage to the building’s foundation that will be costly to repair.
“So, we’re still in the early stages of putting together a cost estimate, but it looks like a lot of the front there of the shop is going to have to be replaced as well as the western wall,” Youngman said. “There is some cracks going all the way up to the roof. So, I don’t know. I think it’s a big deal.”
The store has been closed for three days and will stay closed until further guidance from the city on when it will be safe to reopen,. That will take a monetary toll on the business. The staff remains hopeful that it will be up and running again soon.
“The city is looking out for public safety and so they’ll tell us when they think the building is safe to welcome the public back in,” Youngman said. “So for now, we’re sitting tight and trying to do what we can to move forward with construction. But yeah, you know, obviously the loss of business is a, you know, is rough on us and we’re looking forward to being able to welcome our customers back in.”