After last winter’s double-arson destroyed Lasick’s Beef and Seafood, Joe Lasick and his father Sonny have had to bid farewell to an old family business — again.

Little beknownst to many College Park residents, the Lasick men own another bar and liquor store — a rowdier waterfront establishment in Fort Myers, Fla., though not for long. The Lasicks are selling The Big Still Liquor Store and Night Club, a bar and store Sonny’s father bought in 1970, to help finance the reconstruction of their College Park bar. When a yet-to-be-named buyer agreed to match their price, “it was just something we couldn’t refuse,” Sonny said. “It’s going to help us build a better place up here.”

Despite the sizeable funds needed to rebuild their College Park location, and despite a history of difficulties with the Florida store, Lasick said they weren’t actively looking to sell. Still, one liquor store is sold to sustain the legacy of another, he said.

“After [the fire] happened to us [in College Park], we wouldn’t take the chance of [our Florida store] costing us any more money down here,” Joe said during a telephone interview from Fort Myers. “We’re going to have the money to rebuild bigger and better than ever.”

The Lasicks hope to begin rebuilding Lasick’s Beef and Seafood in about three months, but they are currently waiting to receive county-issued permits. Though the soon-to-be-confirmed sale of The Big Still won’t quicken the process of reconstruction of Lasick’s Beef and Seafood or change their plans for the new restaurant and store, it will make reconstruction financially more comfortable, Lasick said.

On Tuesday, Lasick was closing The Big Still piece-by-piece: turning off phones and electricity, moving leftover liquor into storage and gathering memorabilia collected during the 35 years his family owned the business. He will bring some of it back to College Park when he returns next week.

Saying goodbye to his Florida store isn’t something he had the opportunity to do in the College Park restaurant and store. Lasick’s Beef and Seafood was primarily built by his father and grandfather in the late 1940s; only a handful of mementos were rescued from the building and restored.

That’s why rebuilding the College Park restaurant and store is important, Sonny said, noting he wants to see the business passed on to a fourth generation of Lasicks.

“It’s the only thing we’ve ever done; it’s the only thing I’ve ever done. I don’t want to let it die,” he said.