BELLVILLE — Those traveling along the B & O Bike Trail now have a renovated place to stop in Bellville.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday helped celebrate the opening of the Bellville Bike Depot, located on the north end of Bell Street.
“I’m just really proud that we can offer this to all of those who come by here,” said Bellville Mayor Teri Brenkus. “It helps us show how community oriented we are here in the village and throughout all the Clear Fork Valley really.”
When the mayor realized the depot was in need of renovation, she reached out to local businesses for help. The village doesn’t have a park levy or a budget for such a project.
The response received, she said, was overwhelming. Mansfield Plumbing Products donated new toilets for the depot, and other local businesses donated their products and services to cleanup the space and repair a sewer leak, which had caused the building to stink.
“I thought this was the last thing I wanted to greet people with. So I started calling around and everyone was on board. Everyone said, ‘Sure, I’ll help,” Brenkus said.
The city’s street department even reached out to the nearby elementary school’s demolition crew. They asked about getting stalls for the bathrooms, and the crew obliged by saving several stalls for the depot. The toilets in the women’s restroom were formerly blocked off by shower curtains.
As far as Brenkus knows, the last renovations made to the depot were in 1996.
