On Saturday, August 28, a demolition team began knocking down the vacant K-Mart building on the corner of Brice and Main in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, to make way for a multi-use site being constructed for the new Alliance National Office, which is in the process of relocating from Colorado Springs, Colorado. The site in Ohio will serve not only the Alliance National Office but also the greater Reynoldsburg community.

To mark the occasion, The Alliance invited the greater Reynoldsburg community to the demolition kickoff event, which included

Hundreds of people from the Reynoldsburg community and from Alliance churches throughout Ohio and beyond attended the event.

Prior to the demolition, Reynoldsburg Mayor Joe Begeny addressed the hundreds who gathered from the Reynoldsburg community and from Alliance churches from throughout (and beyond) Ohio who attended the event.

“Reynoldsburg is a town of stories,” begins the mayor. “Our story typically starts with Alexander Livingston and the tomato—a story that we’ve had to explain about how Reynoldsburg became the home of the tomato. Well, we’re much more varied than that, just like the varieties of tomatoes out there. We are the most diverse city in central Ohio—and we embrace that. When [The Alliance] came here, that’s what they wanted. They wanted to become part of a community that was diverse. They didn’t want to go somewhere where they would be locked away in an office. They wanted to be, as they said, “the living room of Reynoldsburg.” And so right here, what you’re seeing is the very first step in a long journey to revitalize not only this part of Reynoldsburg but all of Reynoldsburg. It starts here, it starts with The Alliance. This is what it’s all about—bringing things together with their different stories. We appreciate the diversity of thought in this city; we appreciate the diversity of our community, and most especially, [President Stumbo], I appreciate how you have welcomed everyone into our community here with The Alliance.”