The Electric Train Shop, a Junction staple for hobbyists and children’s imaginations for 12 years, faces an uncertain future with news that the liquor store sharing its building will be moving out in spring of 2011.

“The trains are stalled in the station waiting to find out what happens to the track,” Electric Train Shop owner Scott Law said of his predicament.

After nearly 20 years at its Junction location, the current ten-year lease for the liquor store ends on March 30, 2011, according to building landlord Mark Braseth.

Since the liquor store is on the move, possibly to Jefferson Square according to Braseth, the future of the Electric Train Shop hangs in the balance of the open market.

Braseth has a “For Lease” sign up advertising that the entire space (including Law’s store) is available, so it is possible that Electric Train will be forced to move out if a new tenant wants the whole building, Law said.

The other possibility, if a new tenant does not need the entire building, is that Law’s space gets reconfigured to create more storefront space for the incoming tenant, Braseth said.

“I did tell Scott (Law) that I’m trying very hard to keep him in that space,” Braseth said. “I told him I’m going to advertise it as a whole building, but in reality most likely there will not be a person that wants the full 5850 (sq. feet).”

“The landlords have been very nice to me and they have treated me excellently and said they will try to do everything they can to keep me here, but they don’t know what’s going to happen until they find a tenant,” Law said.

As for why the liquor store is moving, the story goes back nine months when Braseth received a call from a friend saying they thought they saw an ad in the Herald about the state looking for some property.

“They are pretty secretive and it took me about three months to find out it was (the liquor store) looking for property,” he said.

The state liquor board told Beseth they were moving because they were looking for a strip mall location.

Washington liquor board spokeswoman Anne Radford told the Herald, “We needed a larger location than the existing one, so that is why we are looking elsewhere.”

“I don’t know why they’re moving,” Law said. “It seems like they’ve got a plum spot here in the Junction with perfect parking and people know where they are.”

Ultimately, the reason may not have mattered.

“The fact is we were probably not going to renew their lease,” Braseth said.

“In their lease they had a window breakage (clause) that they would not pull out,” he said.

The clause stated that Braseth was responsible for paying to replace window breakage, a rather common occurrence at the liquor store’s back door as the allure of free liquor kept burglars coming.

“The first 18 years I’m getting out of my pajamas at three in the morning, cleaning up the glass, boarding up their door and paying … the next morning for the glass company to come out and fix it,” he said.

“That has been a problem since day one. In fact how it really worked in the end is … about 2 years ago I found out that I wasn’t responsible for coming down and boarding it up like all the (liquor store) managers told me I was, but that I was just responsible for paying for the new glass.”

“State agencies don’t appeal to me anymore to lease to, it’s just too much entitlement,” Braseth said. “My wife and I just thought it would be best to look for new tenants.”

At this time a yoga center, a bank and a restaurant have shown interest in the space, Braseth said.

“I’m hoping to stay here, I’d love to stay here but it may not be possible so I am looking at other options,” Law said as a grandmother and her grandson came in to peruse the emporium of model trains and miniature landscape accessories. “I’ve found several (other locations), but none of them fit all the requirements … like parking and people around them.”

“This place has become a touchstone,” he added. “There are a lot of people that come here for that reason, they grew up around it here and they always feel better when they leave. I think if I was forced out there would be some unhappy people.”

“I worked at another train store before this and worked at a train manufacturer before that, so I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Law said on Nov. 4, almost exactly 12 years after he opened the Electric Train Shop.

“If they do force me out there will be a lot of angry five-year-olds.”