This September will mark
two years that we have been in our "new" office at
1902 East 6th
Street in Austin. It has been a work in progress on a
tight cash flow, with plenty of sweat equity put in by TBC staff and friends.
Moving is always disruptive and this
one didn't come at a good time. But the old space, half the square footage with
storage spread over different rental units across town, was so cramped that it
was dysfunctional - the move had to be made. The new space (3000 s.f.) had been
vacant for some time. Texas Bicycle Coalition negotiated an improvement allowance with the landlord
and soon we had completed an interior paint job, sliding glass windows on
interior walls to spread the light, and a wood floor over the concrete - a
new life flowed through the space. Then we went to work on the
exterior. We passed a major milestone this
Spring when, after repainting the outside a solid blue, we put the "BikeTexas"
sign up. Immediately, folks passing by started coming in, asking about what
we do. A neighbor
organization that puts on fitness activities dropped by to get
acquainted, and we are now building a partnership that we will describe
in a future newsletter. We have opened up to others in the area and, in
addition to hosting business visitors, we have welcomed area cycling
advocacy groups to use the broad open space for a number of meetings.
A sizeable "punch list" remains, so
it will still be new to us for some time. But we believe we have reached the
point where the office reflects to the general public and to public agencies the
commitment that we have made together to cycling in Texas. If you live in
the area or you are traveling to Austin, please stop by! We look forward to
seeing you soon.
TBC
