A new recipe is cooking at the former Wonder Bread factory in Columbus. The sweet smell of hot bread no longer lingers in the vicinity, but to those stirring the ingredients, this isn’t a bad thing. With plans to mix food, retail and numerous aspects of art, a group of Columbus entrepreneurs are transforming the vacant factory into a place called Wonderland.
The 68,000-square-foot building, once property of Interstate Bakeries Corporation, was vacated when the factory ceased production in May 2009. Although its closing marked the closing of a chapter for Wonder Bread, it marked the opening of another for five dreamers.
Adam Brouillette, Andrew Dodson, David Hunegnaw, Kevin Lykens and Josh Quinn, all local business owners, are the brains behind the creative operation.
“We had already had ideas of finding some sort of space and transforming it into a place to house our vision,” said Brouillette, owner of Couchfire Collective.
Brouillette said when the discussion of setting a plan in motion began, the idea for Wonderland was born soon after.
“The name accurately describes what we’re doing here,” Quinn said. “It is a fitting description of this vision that we’re trying to bring alive.”
Wonderland, named by Hunegnaw’s wife, will house exhibition space, performance venues, recording studios, artist studios, office space, retail shops and food and beverage venues.
Quinn, owner of TigerTree, a local lifestyle boutique, said that the eclectic list of plans will play a role in setting Wonderland apart from any other place.
Quinn, a native of Los Angeles, said that it isn’t merely the plan to house all those things together that makes Wonderland unique. It is instead the plan for them to function together as part of one body in one house that does it.
Brouillette said he has no doubt the city could use a place like Wonderland, citing the fact that nearly 600 people signed up to help in some capacity and nearly 1,000 more showed up for its opening as proof.
“That says it all to me,” Brouillette said. “This community has needed a place like this or at the least wanted it.”
The five-member group of friends also believes that location will play a key role in Wonderland’s success, with the building being located close to downtown and not far from the Ohio State campus and Short North area.
Lykens, owner of Lykens Companies and an OSU accounting graduate said that the project location was perfect, and although it isn’t necessarily in the heart of everything, it comes close.
With all the excitement about the project, the group doesn’t believe that filling the space will be a problem. Deciding what best fits will likely be a bit challenging, Quinn said.
Although the group is grateful for the community’s involvement, Brouillette said managing to somehow fit everyone’s ideas together and make them work will pose a challenge. He expressed the group’s desire to incorporate the ideas and concepts of the community while at the same time keeping their own vision alive.
Brouillette said the collaboration part will probably be both the hardest and the best part of it all.
Armed with numerous long-term goals, Brouillette said the group’s main focus is to get Wonderland up and running, and once it has proven to be financially sustainable, work on Wonderland Columbus, a nonprofit organization and expansion project that will cater to communities city-wide.
With much work ahead, the group hopes to begin construction in August, begin moving in occupants by the end of the year and open within the 18 months. Benchmarks have been set and the group intends to update the community along the way.
“The most exciting part of it all is what this will do for both the community and the city of Columbus,” Lykens said.
