Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo., Street Talk Column.

Byline: Andrew Waters

Jun. 13--About this time last year, Jeff Offutt was talking about moving his Subway sandwich shop from 1014 E. Broadway into the former TCBY building at Ninth and Cherry streets within a few months.

Not everything has gone according to plan. "At this point it's a laughable project," Offutt said this week. But after months of delays and the virtual reconstruction of the entire building, work at 30 N. Ninth St. is finally starting to take shape.

Offutt's original plan was to gut the building and put a couple of big windows on the south wall, then open the new Subway by the end of the year. When work started in September, however, it took about a week to abandon those plans.

Crews removed two false ceilings to discover major problems with the roof and joists. But the real nightmare came when they started pulling plaster off the walls.

"The mortar had deteriorated so much you could move the bricks by the touch of the finger," …