Wisconsin Builder | City Lights

MAKING HISTORY

Columbus redevelopments reveal hidden treasures

Downtown restoration projects uncover historic structures

By Jeremy Harrell

The interior of R.W. Chadburn Place, a recently renovated store in Columbus, relies on a series of interior façades that hearken back to storefronts of historic Milwaukee. The building's owner and lead constructor, Gene Frey, said he and his family visited Milwaukee to get a flavor for the old structures and then built replicas inside to give an old bank building a new feel.

The changes in Columbus started small nearly a decade ago, but in the last year alone, a series of reconstruction and renovation projects have put the shine back on the city's faded luster.

"It feels a little like Brigadoon," said Judy Goodson, manager of Columbus' Main Street Program, referring to the mythical enchanted city.

Goodson boasted that restoration contractors in Columbus have worked on some of the region's finest building stock in their renovation projects. Adding layers of new economic development to the city in many cases came down to uncovering what was already there, she said.

Gene Frey, who restores and builds vintage horse carriages, led the way on two of the city's most impressive construction projects. He and his family, an organization he calls the Frey Group, bought an old bank building that had a ground floor store space that Frey and Goodson described as less than ideal.

Working with his son, Todd, other family members and some hired craftsmen, Frey spent a year and a half gutting the former bank, taking down the partition walls, kitchenette and offices that filled the space. The Freys then went to Milwaukee to check out historic building facades and recreated them in the store's interior, which is now a vintage carriage and gift shop. The mock storefronts form a historic-looking streetscape that serves as a backdrop for the store.

"It's just nothing the way it was," Frey said. "We built the whole thing. We painted the building five times before we found the right color."

As that project was going on, the Freys bought another building around the corner that over the years served as a tavern and a meat market. Renovations during the 1960s and '70s were not kind to the building, and much of the original architecture and artistry lay behind wood panels and under a shag rug, Frey said.

Once again, the family went to work, tearing out the carpet to reveal a hand-laid mosaic floor. They stripped the walls to expose cream-brick interior, which then underwent a round of sandblasting. The old shop also had a tin ceiling, but Frey said it was in such sorry shape that he was left with few choices.

"We couldn't see any way of salvaging it, so we took it out," he said.

After months of work, the new shop, now a specialty store called Bath & A Half, opened in April.

Recent additions

This building, dating from 1877, now houses a financial-services company and owes its aesthetic appeal to some canny renovation work. An architect in the state's Main Street office drew up preliminary plans, and R.L. Shea Construction, Reeseville, with consultation from the owner, refitted the building with a new façade and interior.

Across the street from Bath & A Half sits a two-story brick building dating from 1877. After shutting down the pet shop that operated inside, the new owners hired R.L. Shea Construction, Reeseville, to completely refit it.

Ron Shea, the company's owner, said the first time he entered the building, he could tell that it had been remodeled, much in the same fashion as Bath & A Half. Awnings and clumsy woodwork covered the original large windows, and suspended panels obscured the vintage ceiling.

The construction company completely reworked the building's façade and cleaned up cast-iron pillars that had gotten lost over the years. Shea also restored the windows to their full, original size, and they now open wide on the city's main street.

"We wound up tearing out the whole front of the building and had new window frames built to match the woodwork," Shea said.

The rebuilt structure, which opened in April, now houses a financial-services company on the ground floor, with a series of one-bedroom apartments above.

All of this work has begun to transform downtown Columbus, and Frey said that within a few years, the city should become a destination point for visitors who want to see history come alive.

"It'll take three years, but soon this will be a place people want to come to," he said.

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