COLUMBUS -- A long familiar landmark along U.S. Highway 30 will soon be only a memory for Columbus area residents.
The demolition of the buildings that were home to Big Apple Bagel, Neighborworks Northeast Nebraska and Performance Auto began Wednesday morning at the corner of 23rd Street and 23rd Avenue.
Crews from Brandt Excavating, a Lincoln-based company, began work to remove the buildings as the first step for construction of the new Walgreens store. Construction on the new store is scheduled for early this spring with a tentative opening slated for the fall.
“We should have these buildings down by the end of the day on Thursday (today) and weather permitting we’ll have the dirt work done for the new Walgreens store in a couple of weeks,” said Joe Wilkinson, supervisor on the project.
The building that housed Big Apple Bagel has been a significant landmark on the corner since the mid-1960s when it was built to house a Happy Chef Restaurant. The Happy Chef restaurant chain is still active in parts of Minnesota and Iowa.
“The history of that property is very interesting and close to home for our family,” said John Lohr of Columbus.
Lohr’s father, Bus Lohr, purchased the property in the 1930s for the purpose of developing it along the highway.
“When he bought the property the bankers at the time insisted he purchase the land behind it that now includes those housing developments and the high school,” Lohr said. “He went ahead because he wanted the property along the highway. The rest of it he eventually sold to the city for a very small profit because he said that was the right thing to do.”
Lohr said the property has had a service station on the corner since those early days with the original Nite & Day service station and diner. The original Nite & Day was operated out of a railroad car. The current building was constructed in the late 1970s according to Lohr.
Lohr said the Happy Chef building was leased to Jeff Gokie for the Big Apple Bagel venture in the late 1990s.
“We got in that building in the spring of 1998 to begin the remodeling project and opened for business June 17, 1998,” Gokie said.
At it’s peak Gokie employed about 20 people to support the community’s demand for bagels and gourmet coffee.
He said the franchise is still available for sale and interested parties should inquire by calling him at 562-6548.
“Personally, we have been experiencing such an outpouring of support from the community with people asking us how we’re doing, what our future plans are and telling us how much Big Apple Bagel has meant to them,” Gokie said. “It was a very enjoyable experience for us, and we tried to make it a special place that would be much more than just a place to come and get a bagel. We wanted it to be a place where people came to meet and enjoy their friends and do business and we think we succeeded in that. We’ve made many good friends through the business and hopefully it has contributed to the community, too.”
Gokie said he hopes to sell the franchise but has not entirely ruled out the possibility of bringing it back at some future date.
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