Rebuilding Center will move deconstructed house by bike

(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The north Portland non-profit Rebuilding Center is planning a bike move this weekend. The Rebuilding Center deconstructs old homes around the Portland area and then resells the old wood, fixtures and other architectural elements at a retail warehouse in the Mississippi district.

BikePortland reader and neighborhood activist Ted Buehler is helping the organization facilitate the bike move. He says the plan is to move a giant pile of 2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s, siding, windows, doors, floors and bricks from a deconstructed home in the Overlook neighborhood and carry it all by bike about 1.2 miles to the Rebuilding Center warehouse at N. Mississippi and Fremont.

Here’s more from Buehler in an email looking for volunteers:

“Come with your trailer, or just come help other peoples’ trailers. Bonus points for folks who can carry 16′ lumber. You’ll need to fill out volunteer paperwork, and abide by their safety standards. Refreshments provided, but no drinks until afterwards.”

We’re not sure what has prompted the folks at Rebuilding Center to do a bike move. It’s not like we’re surprised, given what a cool organization it is. But to our knowledge it’s their first official move by bike. Perhaps they were inspired by the national attention (as in CNN) a recent Portland bike move received. Whatever the reason, we hope this is just the first of many more bike moves by the Rebuilding Center and perhaps other organizations and companies around town will begin to follow suit.

Will we eventually see an entrepreneur step up and offer moving by bike as a professional service? Who knows, maybe the Portlandia skit will become a reality sooner than we think.

This bike move should bring out some interesting cargo-carrying and trailer adaptations to deal with the long pieces of lumber. If you’d like to join Ted and help out the Rebuilding Center, check the event details and RSVP on Facebook.