The Door County Community Center is the result of the renovation of a landmark Sturgeon Bay structure, a 1930s highway shop building, into a combination of an Aging and Disabled Resource Center (ARDC) and crew quarters, offices and ambulance garage for the county’s Emergency Services Department.
“We used it for 70 years as a highway shop and now we just redid it and there’s no reason it can’t last another 70.”
– Door County Administrator Ken Pabich
The challenges in converting the 80‐year‐old highway shop into a modern facility included both structural and cosmetic issues. Abatement was performed to remove any asbestos and lead paint was stripped from all surfaces.
To bring the facility back to its glory of the 1920s and preserve this rich, historic building of the Sturgeon Bay community, complete tuck‐pointing and cleaning of the original stone facade, combined with select replacement of the stone was performed. The masonry team skillfully blended new stone work with the existing building stone so as not to look like a patch.
The walls are made of hand‐cut stone and measure four feet thick. Original punched window openings were retained, and infilled with new energy efficient glazing in the historic mullion patterns. On the interior, many of the building’s historic interior features were left untouched, apart from some serious cleaning. Stone walls were cleaned of diesel smoke and asphalt stains.
The unique arched beams and wood ceiling over the senior center dining room were cleaned and refinished. The wooden beams throughout the building were brought back to life with a baking soda wash that exposed beauty that was covered in decades of highway soot. Large wood trusses would get a similar treatment in areas planned for senior activities.
Construction crews exposed the original wood trusses and ceiling deck of the old shop, covered up and buried in insulation in the 1970s, and made structural repairs in addition to cleaning and sealing.
There was also concern that the porous material in the building would be permeated with years of diesel fumes, making the building uninhabitable after the rehab. The wooden arches inside the building were coated with years of exhaust and grime that made them look like they were painted black, but underneath there is a beautiful light‐colored wood that was restored with a process called soda blasting, which uses baking soda to clean and deodorize the wood. The rehabbed beams were then be stained and sealed, a process that would eliminate any noxious odors.
Early fears of placing a vulnerable elderly population in the musty old highway shop were blasted away like the soot that covered the hand‐carved stone and radiant lumber of the 1930‐era building.
Goals of the project included restoring the historic building materials and components to the greatest extent possible, minimizing material replacement wherever achievable.
Spaces were renovated using modern elements and glass to increase visual transparency within the building while complementing the historic character of the structure. An example of this is the creation of the new dining hall in the old truck garage bay space. New windows were installed between the existing concrete buttresses that allows for natural light, transparency to programs, and views looking out onto the new exterior deck event space.
The new facility creates greater opportunities for the ADRC staff to fulfill their mission to Door County residents, both as a resource hub for older adults, and also people living with an intellectual or physical disability and their families. It also serves as a destination for residents to stay engaged and active in the community.
“The exposure of the new building brought a lot of curiosity and people stopped in to check it out. More importantly they are sticking around. We had 600 individuals register in the first three months we were open. The building is truly something Door County can be proud of.”
– ADRC Assistant Director, Jennifer Fitzgerald
The project completely changed the use of this 1930s building, all while preserving the original qualities and solid aesthetic. The overhead crane that was once used by the workers remained, which along with other remnants of the old building keep people connected to the past while exposing them to a beautiful modern new building. The doors from the original boilers were abated and used as a historic art piece in the dining room.
Many people were concerned this tired 80‐year old highway shop could not be transformed into a modern facility while preserving an important historic county landmark.
“Since we have opened the ADRC doors in January, there is not a day that has gone by that we have not received positive comments about the building. Many coming from the men and women who had once worked in the old highway shop. Others that had never been in the building before. Most are amazed how the building could turn out to be such an incredible place. “The county did it right” is often heard by those who visit.”
– ADRC Assistant Director, Jennifer Fitzgerald
Browse more before and after photos of our adaptive reuse project of the Door County Community Center and see the Emergency Services Center in the slideshow below.
