Environment : Development News

Deborah Johnson Wood

When Dann Boyles and Chip Minor moved to Nashville, Tenn. a couple of years ago for jobs, they didn't know the housing market crash would mean their home in Michigan wouldn't sell and they'd lose it to foreclosure. But now they're back in Grand Rapids and have launched a new venture of their own – an eclectic home décor shop that specializes in artfully redecorated vintage pieces and used items.

Boyles' success in Nashville with several antique booths he owned and operated at local marketplaces inspired the new store, Rebel Reclaimed, 926 E. Fulton St. When his friend Stephanie Johnson opened the women's consignment shop, Urban Exchange, next door, she encouraged Boyles to bring his redesign talents to a small space in the same building.

"I was an interior designer for 12 years and I am now taking a design eye to reclaiming vintage pieces and redesigning them for the home," Boyles says. "Right now I have a brass chandelier from a thrift store and I took two U.S. maps and decoupaged the entire chandelier with little torn pieces of the maps."

Boyles says he also made an ottoman slipcover out of a Red Wing Linseed Meal burlap bag and throw pillows out of other burlap bags. Artwork pieces include an extensive collection of framed crewel work from the '60s and '70s, a vintage sign from the former Moored & Sons service station in Burnips, and some architectural salvage.

"I watch very closely what's happening in color trends," Boyles says. "I'm very specific about what I show and all the pieces work together to create an overall aesthetic."

Rebel Reclaimed is open Monday - Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Source: Dann Boyles, Rebel Reclaimed

Related Articles
Former Jewelry Hospital to be upscale consignment shop in Grand Rapids Uptown

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

The rollers and berms on the pump track are in place, ready for the inaugural ride of Mayor George Heartwell during the Grand Rapids Bike Park grand opening Saturday, May 15. The mayor will lead his annual family-fun Mayor's Bike Ride after a morning of park cleanup by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks volunteers.

The pump track, designed with mogul-like rollers, keeps a rider's momentum going without pedaling. But more than that, the track teaches balance and turning skills mountain bikers need to know, says Nate Phelps, president of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association. Phelps approached the city of Grand Rapids four years ago with the idea to create the urban bike park.

The park, 580 Kirtland SW, is the only urban mountain bike park in the Midwest, Phelps says. Its design focuses on tracks and trails that help beginning mountain bikers learn basic skills and challenge experienced riders who want to build up speed and agility.

Two additional tracks, The Bob Loop named after bike park volunteer Bob Zeilman and a beginner loop, are under construction but will have sections done for the grand opening for visitors to experience.

"The Bob Loop is in the Plaster Creek riparian corridor, so we're making use of the unique terrain next to the creek," says Phelps. "The Bob Loop undulates with small climbs, but it's mostly about flow with big wide turns and a great line of sight with nothing hidden."

Future plans include adding challenges like a mock log pile and stair steps, re"cycling" the concrete from the park's former baseball dugouts into raised tracks, and more riding loops.

The grand opening celebration begins at 9 a.m. with a two-hour park cleanup open to anyone who wants to help (bring gloves), followed by a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., the Mayor's Bike Ride and a ride down the Plaster Creek Trail.

Source: Nate Phelps, Grand Rapids Bike Park and Michigan Mountain Biking Association

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Dr. Brad Bengtson had a dream to build his new Bengtson Center for Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery so it would feel more like a home than a typical medical office. And with a fireplace, a reading nook and custom millwork, he might be on the right track.

The Bengtson Center will move from temporary offices in the Grand Valley Surgical Center near Leffingwell and Leonard streets NE to 7,000 square feet in the Women's Health Center of West Michigan, 555 Midtowne St. NE.

"You'll be met by a concierge and directed to wherever you need to be for plastic surgery, Botox fillers, skincare laser surgeries and other services," Bengtson says. "I want the experience to be very personal, very cozy, almost like being in someone's home."

Besides offering walk-in services, such as skin care evaluations, laser hair removal and Botox procedures, the center will offer an array of plastic surgery services, including breast reconstruction surgery.

The space will have three esthetician rooms, four exam consultation rooms, three Botox injection rooms, and a photo imaging room with 3-D technology that will simulate how patients might look after plastic surgery or skin care treatments.

A board room features direct audio/visual connections to operating rooms in the building; surgeons from around the world will be able to observe surgeries from the board room and interact with the surgeons in real time.

"We also have a V.I.P. entrance for post operative patients or for men who are uncomfortable coming in," says Dr. Bengtson. "They can come right in the back door where there's a lounge. They won't have to walk through the main lobby."

Craig Architects created the architectural design. Insignia Homes and Pinnacle Construction handled construction. Kathryn Chaplow LLC is the interior designer.

The Bengtson Center will be open by June 1.

Source: Dr. Brad Bengtson, The Bengtson Center for Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery; Kathryn Chaplow, Kathryn Chaplow LLC

Related Articles
Grand Rapids' Women's Health Center offers innovative surgical suites, new jobs
$23M Women's Health Center will 'feel like a spa'

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Denise Hopkins says her decision to relocate Eden Environments to a rehabbed warehouse exemplifies the eco-friendly mindset that she and her business are all about.

Eden Environments is a sustainable design center that specializes in providing environmentally viable building materials, interior finishes and furnishings for commercial and residential spaces, as well as architectural, interior and landscape design services.

Hopkins launched the business some 18 months ago in a strip mall on 28th Street SE, Grand Rapids, but recently relocated to a second-floor suite in a circa 1920s warehouse at 401 Hall St. SW.

"We provide the absolute best sustainable solutions for the built environment," says Hopkins, 47. "We've researched and researched on what is truly sustainable, and we've amassed the best products that are available right now. People can see products online, but can't go anywhere locally to see what they look like."

Hopkins aims to end that problem, that's why she decked out the shop with Knu desks, and furnishings by RC Green and Iannone Design. Display centers show off colorful recycled-glass countertops, dozens of no VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint choices and samples of flooring, including cork in an array of patterns and hues, linoleum, carpeting and wood flooring made in Chelsea, Mich.

Home décor items include decorative papier-mâché lamps fashioned from recycled cement bags, and lamps of recycled tin and metals.

A wall of windows allows customers to view colors and textures in natural daylight.

"This is the kind of space [the store] needs to be in," Hopkins says. "The things we offer have an inherent value that's lasting and we can help people make decisions in terms of design for their living or work spaces. It can be as simple as what paint to use. "

Eden Environments is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.

Source: Denise Hopkins, Eden Environments

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Tim Emmerson has a plan for providing fresh, locally grown vegetables to soup kitchens in Greater Grand Rapids, and he's starting with Matthew's House Ministry where he volunteers as a cook and gives free meals to those in need.

Emmerson says that this year he and volunteers will grow the first Hands On Hunger Garden in two leased garden plots at Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids, using donated plants from Koetsier's Greenhouse and William Bos Greenhouse & Farm.

"I purchase food from Feeding America West Michigan to make meals for the homeless, but I spend more money out of pocket to buy veggies than to buy meat," says Emmerson, 26. "Fresh vegetables are the most important for meals, and I thought, let's grow the stuff ourselves."

So Emmerson launched Hands On Hunger whose parent company is the 6th Street Bridge Community Coalition, a nonprofit he founded to help immigrants become naturalized citizens.

"I got connected with a mobile pantry guy, John Arnold, the executive director of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank," says Emmerson about his inspiration for feeding the hungry. "We had our first mobile food pantry at St. James Church last December and handed out about 5,000 pounds of food."

The plan is to start small with the Hands On Hunger Garden by planting cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, herbs and tomatoes – the most common ingredients for soups and chili.

Beyond that, Emmerson will plant sweet corn in his mother's garden in Jenison and hopes to secure additional garden space donated by area residents. Additionally, he says that if area gardeners will participate in Plant a Row For The Hungry, Hands On Hunger volunteers will get that produce to area soup kitchens where it's needed.

Source: Tim Emmerson, Hands On Hunger

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Kent County plans to demolish and rebuild several outdated buildings on its campus at 701 Ball Ave. using $26 million in millage funds approved in November 2009.

The outdated buildings, constructed in the 1950s through 1970s, have no fire suppression sprinkling systems and contain antiquated heating systems and corroded cast iron plumbing, says Kent County Undersheriff Jon Hess.

The maximum security area, one of the areas scheduled for renovation, now consists of "linear supervision" units: cells and cell blocks aligned in a row and patrolled every hour by a guard.

"The current trend is direct or indirect supervision where inmates live in pods," Hess says. "The officer works in the pod and is right in there with the inmates, so there are no gaps in supervision."

A 1992 addition has the pod style environment. Six new pods will be added and double-bunking in the cells will increase the number of beds from 1,215 to about 1,275.

"Adding the pods will limit the movement of inmates, making the facility safer for everyone," Hess says. "Inmates eat in the pods, they have recreation activities there, they see medical personnel there and have school or church there."

The renovation includes a new audio/visual system for visitations. Visitors will no longer have to enter through a metal detector and inmates will remain in their pods. The visits will take place via computer cameras and monitors set up in the visiting area and in the pods.

"This has been successful around the country and we're encouraging attorneys, ministers, counselors, and other professionals to buy the software so they can visit the inmate without having to leave their offices," Hess says.

The project breaks ground May 20. Tower Pinkster is the architect. Owens-Ames-Kimball is construction manager.

Source: Jon Hess, Kent County Sheriff's Office

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Adtegrity, an online advertising network for advertisers and web site publishers, will be moving its offices and 26 employees from Cascade Township to 38 Commerce in Grand Rapids in a few weeks.

"We're purchasing the whole second floor of 38," says Scott Brew, Adtegrity's president and CEO. "Things are proceeding very rapidly and we're in that last stretch where we're really excited and time seems to slow down."

38, a mixed-use development by Locus Development, offers apartments, residential condominiums, commercial units and an attached parking ramp. The building is under construction on the corner of Commerce and Weston.

With 20-foot-high ceilings, the Adtegrity space has enough room for a mezzanine level with private offices and a conference room with glass walls that overlooks the area below. The main level of the space will have traditional workstations, but will be open to the high ceiling.

A glass curtain wall overlooks Weston Street SW and part of the Heartside business district to the north and east.

"The curtain wall has a curved corner at Commerce, and that's part of our social area," Brew says. "When you're in it, it feels like you're hanging over the corner of Commerce and Weston."

The social area includes a ping pong table, equipment to play X-Box and Wii, and there's an adjacent kitchen.

The buildout will be LEED certified.

"I've watched forward-thinking people like John Green, Andy Winkel (Locus Development) and Sam Cummings (CWD Real Estate Investment) do really cool stuff downtown and I wanted to be part of it," Brew says. "I believe it's necessary to have a vibrant urban core, and I need to put my money where my mouth is."

Source: Scott Brew, Adtegrity

Related Articles
Downtown conveniences attract first tenant to innovative Heartside development

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

After years of anticipation and arm wrestling for financial banking, The Gallery Apartments in downtown Grand Rapids will debut in June at the 6th Annual Parade of Downtown Living.

Fifty-six luxury apartments occupy floors 6 through 12 of The Gallery on Fulton, 2 West Fulton St. Developers hope to have the entire 12th floor ready by tour time, says Nick Koster, vice president of operations for CWD Real Estate Investment, one of the developer partners.

"We will have two model units ready on the 12th floor, but we're hoping that the whole floor will be complete with several apartments staged," Koster says.

The apartments sit atop the future home of the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts (UICA) which will occupy 40,000 square feet on levels one through five. The building fronts along S. Division Avenue, where another 2,700 square feet of retail space is still available.

Studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments make up the mix of residences. The units on the north side of the building have floor-to-ceiling windows; all of the sixth floor units share a band of glass that wraps the building, giving each of those apartments nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The building will be LEED certified.

"From a quality standpoint, the apartments are much more like The Fitzgerald than anything we've done," Koster says. "But the styling is very contemporary and a different look than [developments] we've done in the past. All of the apartments have stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and the master baths have tile showers with glass doors."

There will also be a fitness room, laundry facilities in each apartment, and a rooftop deck for all residents, featuring a partially enclosed area with a concrete bar and flat screen television.

Leases range from $750 to $2,500 a month.

The Parade of Downtown Living runs from June 11-13.

Source: Nick Koster, CWD Real Estate Investment; 2010 Grand Rapids Parade of Downtown Living Facebook page

Related Articles
Lot at Division and Fulton may provide temporary surface parking
$34M Gallery on Fulton sets stage for two unique theaters, 56 luxury apartments

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Viceroy won't have an outdoor sign – just a light above the door like a Prohibition-era speakeasy. But, unlike those covert establishments, you won't need a secret password to get in – if the light's lit, just ring the bell.

Owners Mark and Michele Sellers have designed the new bar at 53 Commerce to emulate bars from the 1930s, with an emphasis on classic handmade cocktails. And ringing the bell for entry is a strategic measure.

"The reason is because the classic cocktails are time and labor intensive," says Mark Sellers. "It will take three minutes to make some drinks because we'll have to chop a block of ice, and layer the ingredients in the right order. Egg whites will have to be shaken up to a foam for the tops of some drinks. If we had so many customers it was standing room only, we'd never be able to keep up. That manner of entry will limit the number of people we let in at one time."

"We'll make all of our own infusions," says General Manager Garry Boyd. "If a drink requires blackberry brandy, we'll infuse the brandy with blackberries. And we'll have homemade tonic, which has flavor. I think that once people have a gin and tonic or vodka tonic made with it, they won't go anywhere else."

Boyd says Viceroy will offer a simple but enjoyable beer and wine list, but "flips, rickys, fizzes and smashes" will be king.

Hungry patrons will have an assortment of appetizers to choose from, with specialties like Scotch eggs, homemade port wine cheese, spicy nuts, a trio of bruschettas, and zucchini and eggplant chips with Greek scordelia sauce.

Sellers expects the bar to open a few weeks after Stella's Lounge May 1 opening.

Source: Mark Sellers and Garry Boyd, Viceroy

Related Articles
Grand Rapids' new Stella's Lounge to feature 200 whiskeys, vegetarian menu

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Beta Design and Pinnacle Construction will soon share a collaborative workspace along the Grand River as part of an initiative to drive business for the two companies. Beta Design will relocate from two floors at 70 Ionia SW, Grand Rapids to 5,000 square feet in Pinnacle's building at 1000 Front St. NW.

The two companies will remain separate entities but will share a conference room, library and reception area. However, both companies say the most significant reason for the change is to offer a single source for clients looking for design, construction and engineering expertise.

"We can learn from each other and share ideas," says Beta Design owner Adriana Bylsma. "Normally a client can hire an architect who will create tons of detailed drawings so the client can put in a bid. But if we work with the construction company right from the beginning, we can reduce the details because we can find better ways of doing things."

"We can team together and approach clients with a fully integrated approach," says Michael Garrett, president of Pinnacle Construction. "We're stronger together than we are as just individual firms. We'll be able to work together very quickly and bounce ideas off each other. Being in the same building, we can quickly get feedback on costs of a project as it's being designed so a client can consider it very quickly."

Pinnacle has been in the building eight years and has always had the extra space; Garrett says he was looking for a related business to bring in. Bylsma has searched downtown Grand Rapids for a space where Beta Design could reduce its carbon footprint and bring its 25 employees into a collaborative environment with a complementary company.

Bylsma and Garrett say both firms will continue to work with other outside companies on development projects.

"I can see that we will try to open opportunities for each other," Bylsma says. "It becomes more than just one person on the street trying to see opportunities."

Source: Adriana Bylsma, Beta Design; Michael Garrett, Pinnacle Construction

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

When Locus Development's John Green and Andy Winkel set out to demolish the original brick building at 38 Commerce and build the contemporary "38" in its place, they made sure to reserve bits and pieces from the old to use as architectural and art elements in the new.

Over the past couple of weeks the original brick façade of the first building has been recycled as brick cladding on the interior commercial and residential lobbies. Two steel structural beams are now art elements incorporated into the wall of the commercial lobby for the building along Weston St.

"The beams are the old riveted style about 12 inches deep," says Scott Veine, project manager from Pioneer Construction. "They reclaimed about 100 lineal feet. Pioneer sandblasted the rust and layers of old paint off them, refinished them, and they became art elements tied directly into the old brick, which in turn ties into the new construction."

Veine says the recycled content in the new 38, which will be LEED certified, is about 27 percent – a number in line with the Midwest's slightly higher percentages for recycled content in LEED buildings.

"Steel and aggregates are created in the Midwest," Veine says. "About 40 percent are locally fabricated and, of those, about 25 percent are locally extracted out of the ground or are made from locally obtained content (within 500 miles)."

Thirty of the building's 35 apartments are leased, 13 are occupied, says Jessica Geerling, Locus Development. One of the eight condos has been purchased.

Construction of all the apartments is completed, Veine says, and crews will end all construction by late May with the exception of the interior build-outs for the four retail bays on the main level.

Source: Scott Veine, Pioneer Construction; Jessica Geerling, Locus Development

Related Articles
38 Commerce reduced to rubble as "Thirty-Eight" prepares to rise
A View of 38 Commerce

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Photos:

Courtesy of Locus Development

Deborah Johnson Wood

After 12 years at 24 E. 8th St. in Holland, the location for Kilwin's just wasn't working anymore. The confectioner was sandwiched between retail shops that closed early, greatly reducing customer traffic during the evening hours. And there wasn't enough room for the coffee shop that owners Darl and Judy Dalman wanted to add for Kilwin's new line of cappuccinos, lattes and hot chocolate.

So they relocated to the corner of E. 8th and College, where JP's Coffee House, The Curragh Irish Pub and New Holland Brewing occupy the opposite corners.

"The coffee shop and restaurants have longer hours that match our hours," says Darl Dalman. "People congregate on that corner later in the evening. It's kind of a magnet spot. I hope that we benefit the other restaurants, too, because we will draw more people down there."

Kilwin's 1,850 square feet provides enough room for a 17-seat coffee shop and space for the kitchens where they make Mackinaw Fudge, Kilwin's chocolates, caramel corn, a variety of nut brittles and other delectable confections.

There's also plenty of space for the freezers where employees serve up 32 flavors of ice cream.

The building dates back to the 1920s, says Dalman. Recent renovations retained the original wood floors and tin ceiling, and added mahogany woodwork throughout.

"It feels like you're in somebody's house with beautiful woodwork," Dalman says. "The fronts of the ice cream cases are surrounded with real wood and the bar that encloses the fudge kitchen is done in wood. We have the light wood floors, caramel-colored walls and a chocolate brown ceiling."

A cozy fireplace and a large screen TV provide places where customers can sit and relax with a coffee or take in a football game.

In front of the building is the city's new outdoor fireplace that's surrounded by built-in, heated seating for four-season enjoyment.

Source: Darl Dalman, Kilwin's; Mimi Fritz, Downtown Holland Prinicipal Shopping District

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids' Aquinas College has begun a massive overhaul of its outdated athletic facility that promises to transform the 1957 structure into a showplace for college sports and fitness training.

The existing facility on the north side of the campus was mostly gymnasium. The basketball and volleyball courts ran north-south, but will be reoriented to east-west in the center of the main level. That makes room for the addition of interior second levels to the north and south, says Scott Vyn, design director for Integrated Architecture, the firm that designed the new structure.

The $7 million renovation includes a new student fitness/workout room, new concessions, locker rooms, classrooms, coaches' offices and the Aquinas Hall of Fame.

"We made this change for multiple reasons," says Greg Meyer, Aquinas' associate vice president for advancement. "The building was built 40 years ago when we had six sports and we now have 18. But the primary reason was admissions. At any college now, students look at the academic side and the quality of life on campus; not having a fitness center was a handicap to us."

Having three classrooms and a training room in the facility provides a setting where students will train and learn as part of their academic program, Meyer says.

The structure will be certified as LEED-NC (new construction) due to the extent of the rebuild and the incorporation of sustainable elements such as re-insulating the entire structure and adding windows around the building.

The finished facility will sport a grander Fulton Street entrance some two stories high with columns, bronze panels, glass and ground face masonry.

The project is phase 1 of a $12 million plan that will eventually add an intramural building to the west that will house an indoor track and intramural basketball and volleyball courts.

Phase 1 will be completed in August 2010.

Rockford Construction is the construction manager.

Source: Scott Vyn, Integrated Architecture; Greg Meyer, Aquinas College

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Hope Network's new Center for Autism maximizes the positive effects that a building's interior shape, color and noise level can have on persons with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.

The Center for Autism is an outpatient facility for adolescents located on Hope Network's Coral Lettinga Campus, 3361 36th Street SE.

Mike and Connie Lettinga drove from the Grand Rapids area to the east side of the state regularly to get their daughter, Coral, the special services she needed to help her with her autism. It was the Lettinga's idea to develop a comprehensive and innovative autism center close to home.

"People with autism have under- or over-developed sensory systems that are highly reactive to colors, odors, and noise," says David Gamble, Hope Network's director of children's services. "Often this affects their balance or they have spatial issues, like not knowing the distance between themselves and the wall. That's why it's important for them to touch things and walls when they walk."

The autism center incorporates design elements to relieve some of this stress, such as, curving walls, rounded corners and pastel colors. Noise reduction materials, including acoustical ceilings and special padding under the gymnasium floor, prevent sound reverberation.

Framed pictures of children or a leaf or flower painted on the walls create simple and calming wayfinding signage.

The 12,000-square-foot former warehouse features a Model Living Unit with a bed and dresser, laundry facilities, a kitchen and bathroom.

"The Model Living Unit is where we teach clients how to make their bed, wash and dry and fold laundry, and do other things that are part of daily living," Gamble says. "I was just down there the other day and we were teaching two students how to make cookies."

There are also rooms for sensory learning, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, medical exams, speech therapy and family visitations. Outdoors is a playground, basketball court and a track.

A grand opening on April 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. is open to the public.

Source: David Gamble, Hope Network; Craig Clark, Clark Communications

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

Deborah Johnson Wood

Plumbers slog through a lot of water throughout their careers, but not quite like Lowell's Greg Canfield does it. He's in the midst of restoring three waterlogged 1880s storefronts that sit just above the surface of the Flat River in downtown Lowell.

When Canfield, owner of Canfield Plumbing & Heating and a member of the Lowell Downtown Historic District Commission, found out that 115, 117 and 119 W. Main were going to be demolished because of their water damaged foundations, he jumped at the chance to preserve them.

"We already lost some similar buildings next door and you lose the heart of the downtown," he says. "That's why I bought these."

Connected to each other, the buildings sit at the west end of the bridge that the Michigan Department of Transportation is now rebuilding. Canfield will combine the buildings into one. Window walls overlooking the river and an outside deck provide spaces for river viewing.

He and construction company Ridgeline Reconstruction waited until ice formed on the river to start the renovation, reasoning that it was easier to sweep discarded building materials off the ice than to try to prevent materials from falling into the river. Canfield estimates 50 dump truck loads of debris were removed.

"Every time the buildings would settle and sink the answer was to put a new floor on top of the old one, and layer upon layer was added over the years," he says. "There were actually four floors in the buildings."

Canfield discovered stairway openings in the ceilings of two of the buildings. Research confirmed they used to be two-story buildings, so he's topping them with new second levels.

He says a hair salon has shown some interest, and he could put a large residential condominium upstairs.

He also says the space would make a great inn or hotel with a main floor restaurant and guest rooms upstairs.

Source: Greg Canfield, Canfield Plumbing & Heating

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com. Development News tips can be sent to info@rapidgrowthmedia.com.