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Hamilton Palmer is renovating the old Purina building. Inside will be office space, and the tower awaits a new checkerboard pattern.
The former Purina building in Fredericksburg is under renovation, with the original warehouse A small courtyard is tucked alongside an employee entrance to a renovated portion of the Purina building, also known as the Young-Sweetser building. |
Since becoming the property's new owner a couple of years ago, Hamilton G. Palmer, who runs the surveying company HGP Inc., has renovated the site to the extent that his own offices are now in there.
He now spends what time he can overhauling the rest of its interior and repairing the tower's weathered exterior.
And yes, he is planning to repaint the familiar Purina checkerboard pattern on the restored tower.
"This area needs some continuity," said Palmer of the neighborhood that adjoins the Fredericksburg train station. "We're setting a decent standard, though I don't have all the money for what I'd like to do."
As far as Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc. is concerned, "decent" translates to "tickled" and "delighted," according to the foundation's Kitty Farley. "We really like what he's doing down there."
The building will serve as the gift shop and rest stop for the foundation's 31st Candlelight Tour this weekend. So if you want to get a peek inside, this would be a good opportunity.
The appearance of the building will be changed dramatically when a wall of steel and glass is added to the north side of the warehouse, facing the CSX railroad tracks.
"We would welcome a restaurant or offices in here," said Palmer. He said neighborhood residents had suggested a small, upscale grocery store, but the property's zoning prevented that.
Hyperion Espresso soon will be serving the neighborhood and commuters with a coffee cart as it expands to a second downtown location.
Palmer said he is getting overtures from people interested not only in commercial space, but from those who would like to live in the tower itself.
Much of the flooring and roofing has been redone, primarily because, Palmer said, "You could have fallen through the floor and the roof leaked like a sieve."
When he first entered the building, Palmer said it was vacant and reflected its use as a haven for the city's homeless. Rundown, he said, did not adequately describe it.
Portions of the building are still much as they were when the Young-Sweetser Co. occupied it. The company built the warehouse in 1919 and added the grain elevator tower shortly thereafter.
The concrete construction was regarded as fireproof. Nevertheless, a fire in June of 1920 caused significant damage to the warehouse and elevator.
Earlier this year, the Fredericksburg Architectural Review Board studied the structure and determined it has played a key role in the city's history.
Not only was the use of steel-reinforced concrete just gaining favor as a construction method at the time, but the use of a centrally located grain elevator reflected the evolution of agricultural marketing of that era, the board found.
According to a 1921 story in the Daily Star, a predecessor to this newspaper, "The installation of an improved high-speed corn sheller and cleaner with a capacity of 225 bushels per hour in the new elevator of the Young-Sweetser Co. makes another step in line with their policy of giving the farmers in this section of Virginia better and more rapid opportunity to market their grain to the best advantage."
The building remained in the hands of Young-Sweetser until 1971. Starting in 1966, it was shared by Farm & Tack Supply Co., which continued in business until 1992, when owner Doug Redgrave decided to close its doors.
Palmer bought the building from health and fitness club entrepreneur Carl Braun for $225,000.
Braun had given up his plan to open a fitness center in the building after calculating the cost of renovations. He later opened Highland Health & Fitness nearby on Lafayette Boulevard.
Palmer allows that he's made an additional six-figure investment in the project so far, and anticipates completing all but the exact configuration of the interior by this spring.
Palmer said the elevator and related equipment are being removed as work progresses, but anything that can be reused for other purposes will be. Steel beams, for example, may be used as tables or counters. Other items may be used decoratively.
Whenever possible, Palmer said, environmentally friendly techniques and materials have been used in the project.
Palmer said the building's interior concrete remains in good shape, but the outside had deteriorated somewhat, leaving some steel rebar exposed. Repairing those areas, and using an expensive chemical to preserve the remaining concrete and help it stay bonded to the steel, have proved costly, he said.
