When fires occur in historical buildings, the restoration process itself can be a whole different ballgame. Building codes, historical artwork and furnishings, and preservation concerns exist – the most extreme care and attention to detail is needed to restore historic properties back to normal, or even better than before.
Challenge
In early June 2016, a fire broke out at the popular PerrysBurgers restaurant in downtown Perrysburg, Ohio. Located in the historic district, in a building that was at least 100 years old (or more), PerrysBurgers is known to locals as the best place in town to go for “Uncommon Burgers & Unending Fries.”
The fire started downstairs in the storage room and was contained there, but the damage was more extensive – an estimated $100,000 to the restaurant and the vacant upstairs apartment per WTOL 11.
Solution & Results
Cousino Restoration & Environmental was called to the scene to serve as the lead on PerrysBurgers’s emergency response fie damage restoration project. “Our goal was to save the integrity of the whole building,” stated Cousino Restoration & Environmental Project Manager, Keith Tammarine. And that’s what they did.
Working together with the owner, Tammarine and his crew not only restored the building, but also:
1) Upgraded all of their systems (plumbing, heating, etc.)
- Before the fire, many of the systems themselves were outdated – even original.
- Cousino Restoration & Environmental helped to “upgrade everything from the crawl space up,” including new furnaces and new electrical systems, said Tammarine.
2) Uncovered and preserved old works and structures (like a wall that hadn’t been exposed in over 100 years)
3) Vastly increased the real estate value of the upstairs apartment, which is owned by the PerrysBurgers owner
- Before, the owner had just rented out this apartment (which was empty during the fire) to tenants.
- Tammarine and his team completed gutted and redid the apartment, adding an LED fireplace, a laundry room, and other details so that by the time the project was completed, the property’s worth itself had skyrocketed.