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The Lumberyard prepares for next phase of expansion in Seneca · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  But the Lumberyard prepares for next phase of expansion in Seneca. Written
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  by Michael Urbanac. This article is being read by an automated voice
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  brought to you by Everlett. The Graves Lumber Yard building in Seneca
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  was once the center of they community, and after sitting vacant for
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  twelve years until 2021, it has retaken its place. Aaron and Dave
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  Studman purchased the building in 2021 without much of an idea for
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  it, they said. Now,
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  it houses nine offices, Refuge Coffee and Company, the Rusty Rooster, an
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  art gallery, and a chiropractor's clinic. Everybody sort of had a dream,
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  Aaron said. We all came together with our dreams. Now Dave is
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  working on rehabilitating the eastern portion of the building much like he
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  has the rest of the place. The plan is to add more
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  office space and potentially an ice cream shop or a storefront of
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  some sort on the southeast side. This section of
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  the building took just as much work as the rest of the
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  former Graves lumber building did. We had to dig down and hand
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  dig new foundations, and pour new foundations into three quarters of the
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  building at this point, Dave said. New floor joists, new beams, and
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  everything. Right now the framing of the new portion of the building
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  is up and Dave is working on getting the electrical started. It'll
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  have windows soon too. If we hadn't bought it, it probably would
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  have been torn down by now, Dave
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  said It would just be a gravel parking lot. Instead, his years
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  in construction led him to work on a building all his own,
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  with the help of Aaron and their kids. One of their sons
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  is a woodworker, so he built the front doors, their daughter designed
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  the logo, and their other son helped with the labor. Dave said
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  the floors in the coffee shop are original to the building. I
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  I literally spent thirty or forty hours digging one hundred years of
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  dust out between the cracks, Dave said. It was like just with
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  a screwdriver. It was not fun. Now the Lumber Yard is home
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  to four farmers markets per year, with the next coming November 28th.
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  It also
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  has the Lumber Lane Gallery, which has been home to art from
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  local artists, including an upcoming exhibit from the Ottawa Art League. Dave
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  said the building now draws people from a 40-mile radius of Seneca,
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  with travelers on the IM Canal Trail stopping by on their walks
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  and bike rides, and people from as far as Ottawa and Coal
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  City coming by for coffee. The Ottawa YMCA also has an office
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  there now which is its home base for before and after school
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  programs in Seneca.