Cafe Berlin: From gas station to eatery & cultural hub

Cafe Berlin at 220 N. Tenth St. is housed in a former gas station. Photo by Chris Creasy.

Today, the Cafe Berlin building at 220 N. Tenth St. serves food, music, and culture. But until 2009, the building served a different role, housing an AMPRIDE gas station and convenience store, complete with the patio where we now enjoy pancakes and hospitality.

For a time, the 2009 building even included live theatre.

From November 2010 to December 2011, Theatre NXS shared the building with Cafe Berlin, putting on live theater performances under the direction of L.R. Hults. After Theatre NXS closed, Ed Hanson and his newly founded Berlin Theatre/Talking Horse Productions moved into the space putting on live theater from February 2012 until July 2013 when it moved to St. James Street.

Adaptive reuse

John Ott, the owner of Alley A Realty, bought the failing gas station from Warrenton Oil in 2009.

As he saw it, the building was the perfect opportunity for him to continue to fulfill his vision for the North Village Arts District as a vibrant area and add live entertainment. When he bought the building, Ott said he had two goals:  “We didn’t want it to feel like a gas station, and we knew it had to be mixed-use.”

Before Cafe Berlin

The 25-year-old building began as a pre-engineered metal building with masonry exterior walls built by Professional Contractors and Engineers (PCE) from 1998 to 1999. It opened on May 5, 1999, as a convenience store and gas station owned by Boone County Oil.

On May 5, 1999, branded as AMPRIDE, the building at 220 N. Tenth opened as a gas station and convenience store owned by Boone County Oil Company. Photograph courtesy of John Ott.

According to an Aug. 22, 1998 Columbia Daily Tribune article, Boone County Oil built the new 2,400-foot convenience store and office space as part of its modernization plan. The store would feature “a full line of food products and a large garden-style outdoor eating area designed to appeal to the student crowd from nearby Columbia College.” As part of the project, Boone County Oil replaced the old equipment, pumps, and lines to meet new environmental standards.

The new building replaced a 1948 yellow-brick and metal Boone County Oil gas station that operated under various names and managers over the decades. The original building faced Tenth Street instead of sitting further back and at an angle like the new building.

The 1948 metal and brick building Boone County Oil gas station was demolished in 1998 to make way for a gas station and convenience store, complete with a patio area. Photograph courtesy of John Ott.

Filling station failure

The upgrade didn’t translate into success for Boone County Oil.

In a July 5, 2003 Columbia Daily Tribune article, the president of Boone County Oil said the company lacked the two essential things for a successful convenience store business: “Good management and multiple stores to spread the costs.” The store was sold to Warrenton Oil, which operated several stores in Missouri under the name of Fast Lane.

Ott who rehabbed the building said the real challenge the gas station failed was the 1985 opening of the Columbia Mall. As a result, people and retailers fled downtown Columbia leaving the downtown area reeling from the change. He explained people tend to buy gas near where they live and gas stations were moving to busier thoroughfares such as Providence Road.

Ott said today he thinks lively the North Village Arts District would translate into success for a gas station, just as it has for Cafe Berlin.

Cars on this corner since 1925

Even before the 1948 building went up, the corner and vicinity had a history associated with automobiles. In 1925, it featured a private parking garage, a block east of a livery stable and public garage, while the rest of the vicinity was filled with housing.

This Sept. 1925 Sanborn Fire Map shows a private garage on the corner of Park and Tenth streets.

The first car came to Columbia in 1905. By 1930, the city had 3,500 cars and 46 filling stations, as stations were called then, in a city with a population of 14,967.

By 1958, the Boone County Oil gas station was joined across the street by a Clark Super 100 gas station.

Enter – by bike – Cafe Berlin

On Sept. 28, 2009, then Cafe Berlin owners Eli Gay, Allison Starn, and 15 bike enthusiasts gathered to move Cafe Berlin from 21 N. Providence Road on the corner of Walnut Street to its new home at 220 N. Tenth. 

As of May 2024, Cafe Berlin is co-owned by Eli Gay and Sam Johnson.

Using what a Columbia Daily Tribune article called “pedal power,” Cafe Berlin moved almost all of the restaurant’s equipment via bicycle from its former home at 21 N. Providence Road.

By 12:30 p.m., move organizer Gina Overshiner said all but some refrigerators had been moved to the new site at 220 N. Tenth St. The move fell during a month-long challenge to go car-free sponsored by PedNet, now Local Motion, an organization dedicated to helping people move away from motorized transportation. 

Two months later, the newspapers noted the cafe was successful in its new home and packed with diners. The same story could be written today.

Sources:

Jan. 17, 1930. Columbia, Missouri: Columbia Missourian. Accessed via newspapers.com

1925 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Columbia, Boone County, Missouri. Accessed online May 20, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn04620_007/

1958 Polk’s Columbia (Boone County, Mo) City Directory. Accessed at the Columbia Public Library in person. Clark’s Super 100 Gas Station listed at 221 N. Tenth St. 211 and 213 N. Tenth are listed as residences.

Waters, Andrew (Aug. 22, 1998, p. 23) Street Talk. Columbia Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Accessed via newspapers.com

Waters, Andrew (July 5, 2003, p27) Added convenience. Columbia Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Accessed via newspapers.com

Willett, Justin (March 14, 2009) Cafe Berlin crosses Providence Road this fall. Columbia Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Accessed via tmcnet.news

Heavin, Janese (Sept. 28, 2009) Pedal-powered moving day. Columbia, Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/news/local/2009/09/28/pedal-powered-moving-day/21541114007/

Brenner, Dan (Sept. 29, 2009) Cafe Berlin moves using bike power. Columbia, Missouri: Columbia Missourian. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/cafe-berlin-moves-using-bike-power/article_ffaaa686-59ec-5a19-9829-5dd02daf7cde.html

Willett, Justin (Nov. 6, 2009) GREAT MOVE. Columbia Missouri: Columbia Daily Tribune. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/business/2009/11/07/great-move/21560973007/

Cafe Berlin Facebook post by Eli Gay (April 7, 2022). Accessed May 20, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064515381629/search/?q=partner

Facebook page Theatre NXS Discussion Group. Contacted via Direct Message on Facebook. Dates of Theatre NXS of Winter 2010 to Dec. 2011 confirmed by Nora Dietzel May 14, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/87692069801/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=10150220291794802

Email from John Simon of Simon Associates Inc., Architecture, May 13, 2024.

Interview with Ed Hanson, May 10, 2024, followed up via emails on May 14 and May 15, 2024.

CoMo Preservation is devoted to helping homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic places and spaces gives people a sense of place and boosts Columbia’s economy. You can get involved by volunteering, signing up for our mailing list, attending an event, becoming a member or donating.

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