18
| May/June 2016
MY DAVEY
Renovations to Davey's former tech center finished in early 2016.
NEW PURPOSE FOR HISTORIC DAVEY BUILDING
Davey Bryce Road hums again after renovations were made to provide new space
for members of Davey Resource Group's Natural Resources Consulting team.
The NRC Ohio ecological services team recently relocated from Davey's Water
Street offices in downtown Kent to Davey Bryce Road. The building was built in
1953 as the Davey Technical Service Center–predecessor to the Davey Institute.
The Institute moved to the new corporate center in 1985.
Molly Senter, Davey's property manager, managed the renovation and restoration.
Senter says the building was used mostly to store office furniture, distribute forms
and marketing materials, and store records for the past 15 years.
"Taking a 1953 structure and converting it for general office space, and making it
functional again while still preserving the history, presented a unique challenge,"
Senter says. "But it was a fun project getting to see it turn into such a gem."
Planning started in January 2015, and construction started in July. Contractors
preserved the original glazed block featured throughout along with all the original
interior doors and glass-block windows. Workers installed new soft ceilings, LED
lights, windows, flooring and plumbing throughout the 5,800 square feet of space.
One challenge, though minor, was finding and removing all the unusual plumbing
installed over the years to support the tech center's numerous laboratories–includ-
ing piping that ran outside the building to a greenhouse that once stood behind it.
Senter says the architects, contractors and city building inspectors were all
impressed with how well the 63-year-old building had aged.
"They all liked the project and commented on what good bones it has," she says.
Today collaboration happens at a moment's notice in the open-office space, as
Davey employees working on ecological consulting and ecosystem restoration
projects have easy access to their teammates.
The ecological services team work includes water resource permitting, endangered
This large room served as the main
classroom for the Davey Institute
of Tree Sciences until 1985.
Restoration work included creating a
break room and kitchen area downstairs.
A newly renovated office in the
former tech center.
