Realty Executives Premier Continues with Historic Building Restoration

When we last checked in with Mike and Pam Tezak of Realty Executives Premier, they were tackling the restoration of their main office on 310 Lincolnway. This old building which needed extensive work to restore it to a pristine status, has for the last few months, undergone a rapid transformation with the older more decrepit areas of the building becoming a distant memory and the interior crumbling floors and walls of the past now featuring clean, organized offices and social areas.

Once the construction began on the exterior of the building, many expected the process to continue smoothly and finish without issues or hang-ups. However, the best-laid plans often have the ability to diverge in a different way, and multiple issues soon rose to the surface, complicating the restoration process tenfold.

The Tezaks didn’t take this opportunity as a sign of defeat, but rather a new opportunity to take their original plans and create something better.

“When we first started on the exterior of the building we were relieved,” said Pam. “The brick was left intact and was in a beautiful condition. We felt that at the time we would be able to preserve the original condition of the building and keep it in a way that many people remember it from the past.”

However, it was only a short period of time later that they soon discovered that the brick would not be able to be used as the adhesive material on top of the bricks could not be easily removed without causing serious damage. Along with this, more issues became apparent once the construction company moved to the side of the building.

“We saw that on top of the wood material there was Styrofoam,” said Mike. “This material was originally used as installation a few decades ago. Of course at the time no one realized that this would eventually cause more harm than good to the building.”

The Styrofoam material used to insulate the building collected a massive amount of rain water and moisture, causing a massive amount of mold to grow on the wooden material and installation causing irreparable damage.

“I remember seeing the construction crew take these pieces of Styrofoam and plop it on the ground and it left behind a huge amount of moisture,” said Pam. ‘Once we took a closer look at the wood, much of it was eaten through and damaged beyond repair. “

“There was such a massive amount of mold in some places that there were actually mushrooms growing there,” said Mike. “It was at this point that we knew that our plans had to change and we had to go back to the drawing board again, we had to completely rethink our plans.”

While faced with this large setback, the shock of this soon wore off for the Tezaks who took this opportunity to turn this setback into a new opportunity for an even better building plan.

“We realized the opportunity we gained here,” said Mike. “We realized that we were suddenly given something we thought we would never have, complete creative control over this project. Mike and Pam soon met with a team of architects and designers who after having some sessions to plan and research new designs came up with a new design plan.

“The team was very calm and methodical about the entire situation,” said Pam. “When someone freaks out and panics, it causes everyone to panic and worry but that didn’t happen here. It was a calm and collected experience and because of that, it removed a lot of the stress.”

New plans for the building include all new brick material that still retains the original designs and spirit of the original brick while adding new features such as awnings and higher windows to prevent water from seeping in.

“When we were planning, we were very careful to make sure that we kept the building updated and made it with materials that will ensure the future of the building, but at the same time stayed close to the design of the original,” said Pam. “We have a lot of respect for the building and so does the community, we wanted to keep it authentic.”

Because of this planning, despite the setback, the Tezaks are now ahead of schedule in the building process with a September finish date now being pushed ahead to August.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky though this whole experience, we’ve learned so much and experienced so much leading to this. It’s through this excellent communication and mutual understanding of everyone involved that has allowed us to succeed and rise past these problems,” said Pam.

“It’s been a long and challenging experience, but an absolutely incredible one," said Mike.