Serving the Loup Valley for 137 Years
Ord Couple Brings New Life To
Old Building On Town Square
Ryan and Melani (Hagge) Flynn
By Lisa Fischer
Ryan and Melani (Hagge) Flynn utilized their downtime during COVID-19 to restore a building on Ord’s town square.
The Flynns began refurbishing the facility, found between Scratchtown Brewing Company and The Golden Husk, immediately after they purchased it in February of 2020. Once renovations of the nearly 7,500 square-foot building are complete, in the spring of 2021, the pair plans to rent the facility to commercial tenants interested in operating a retail or service space.
“While we want to retain the building’s authenticity during the refurbishment, Melani and I are designing it to look like the buildings you see in Kearney on the bricks,” Ryan noted. “We picked it because we didn’t want to see it fall into ruin. It has about 4,000 square-feet on the main floor and nearly 3,500 square feet upstairs for office space. It also has an unfinished basement for storage.”
With paperwork signed last February, Ryan, a Hackel Cattle employee, almost immediately began ‘adding by subtracting’ by tearing out unusable material like carpet, tile and drywall. In fact, Ryan is no stranger to renovating buildings. While growing up in Omaha, Ryan notes assisting his family in the restoration of several rental houses found in Omaha, Lincoln and Ashland.
“I don’t have a contracting background, but I have taken part in several building restorations,” he said. “Last winter after we got the old stuff out, we had a fresh canvas to start from.”
The Flynns met after Melani graduated from Ord High School in 2012 while attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). After they graduated in 2016, Melani began attending the University of Nebraska College of Law while Ryan went to work in Salina, KS. When an opportunity arose for Melani to join the law firm of Stowell, Geweke & Piskorski, the young couple came to Ord.
When pandemic restrictions began to lessen in June, Melani and Ryan called upon Hackel Construction Inc. to assist. While Tanner Hackel oversees the restorations off-site, Maceo Wright leads the project on-site. Ryan said Hackel Construction employees began their involvement by working on an exposed interior wall found on the south-side of the building.
“The wall was left exposed for nearly a decade,” Ryan recalled. “It deteriorated a lot because of the elements.”
On top of adding a steel coating to the recently restored south wall, Hackel Construction employees also installed a system to curb water from the building to protect the facility from the elements.
“We’re designing the space to have an industrial feel,” Ryan added. “While maintaining the warehouse floors, exposed sprinkler system and ductwork, Melani and I want to add modern touches to the facility.”
The new storefront and windows are next on the list of building renovations for the couple. They plan to have the building available to rent next January. Once completed, the building will have an exterior vestibule, or common entrance, along with a brick wall down the center of the interior.
“We want to ensure tenants have plenty of space,” he added.
