By Mike Harris

Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

The demolition work is done, and now workers are pouring truckloads of concrete into deep, wide footings to support the new, stronger roof for the remodeled Goodwin and Son’s Market in Crestline.

Heavier, taller support columns to bear not only the weight of the new roof but any snow load that may come from future “Snowmageddon” storms, such as the one in March of this year that collapsed the market’s roof, are being delivered soon.

The work to date has been nothing short of impressive.

Workers from Marzola Concrete prepare to pump concrete into one of the footing holes.

“Some of the new footings required eight truckloads of concrete while the center footings required 16 truckloads of concrete,” a Goodwin’s spokesperson said. “In terms of the concrete alone for the new footings, the bill was just over $500,000.”

The rebuilding is being done on two tracks, the spokesperson said. The first track was getting county approval for permits to construct the new, stronger roof.

“The county has been wonderful,” the spokesperson said. “It took just three and a half weeks to get county approval.”

The second track will be getting approval for remodeling the interior of the store. Work on the interior should commence as soon as the columns are installed for the new roof. That might be as soon as sometime in October.

Plans for the remodel will include a major change in the hot food and deli section of the store.

A new pizza oven is part of the plan, as is more hot prepared food items. Gone will be the tables and chairs in the old deli section, to be replaced with a new dining area in the front of the store. The spokesperson said the family is planning to offer 30 percent more prepared foods for its customers.

Steps will take customers up to an eating area that allows customers to look over the parking area and offer a view of the north shore area of Lak Gregory and the lake itself. Four self-checkout registers will be available just for food service.

Hot coffee, drinks and a selection of bakery items will be available at the center of the store where the hand-dipped chocolates and ice cream service area will be.

Another planned new feature will be a daily broadcast from the area where the weather vane used to be. Each day at noon a recording of a Swiss yodeler will sound out.

“Lake Gregory always has had a Swiss theme, such as streets named after Swiss alps, such as Weisshorn, Jungfrau and Matterhorn,” the spokesperson said. “We’d like to see the town embrace that theme again.”

The family commended the work being done to get the store open again, especially workers from Marzola Concrete, Hammer One demolition and Kirkley construction.

“We are grateful for all the teams of hard workers striving to hit our opening date goal of March 1, 2024,” the spokesperson said. Our goal is to make (the reopened market) safe and secure for the community and visitors.”