Call it Extreme Makeover: Historic Edition.

The Plaza de Armas building, built in 1865, is due for an $8.4 million renovation that includes interior and exterior upgrades, new audio/visual studios for the city, and gallery and retail/restaurant space.

The building which is actually four interconnected structures is located just west of City Hall next to the Spanish Governor's Palace.

What we really want to do is put them back into use with some city functions, with some retail space, and also some art gallery and cultural activity space, said Mike Frisbie, director of the capital improvements department.

Fort Worth-based Byrne Construction Services was awarded the design-build contract at the City Council meeting Thursday.

The renovation is scheduled to begin in August and wrap in November 2013.

In all, the building contains 41,000 square feet of useable space.

The scope of the project includes major roof work, new heating and air-conditioning systems, and new electrical/mechanical/plumbing systems.

Fruit Fusion, a smoothie shop on the North Side, is in discussions with the city to move into the planned restaurant space facing Dolorosa Street.

The northern end of the building, flush with the Spanish Governor's Palace, would contain community space that could be used as an art gallery.

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Plaza de Armas building to undergo major makeover

Two local retailers have secured space at one of the new construction projects at the Pearl Brewery that is set to open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Custom guayabera maker Dos Carolinas and Lee Lee Loves Shoes, a boutique women's shoe store, are set to open at the Pearl's Lab Building as soon as the project is complete, ownership at both businesses confirmed.

Officials at the Pearl did not return a request for comment.

It will be Dos Carolinas' first retail location in San Antonio, said Caroline Matthews, the owner. The business currently has its manufacturing plant with a showroom at 127 W. Carolina St. Matthews said she will keep that location for manufacturing but move the retail operation to the Pearl. The store will occupy about 840 square feet there, according to the city's Development Services website.

Matthews opened her first retail location in Houston last month.

Her decision to open a retail spot in San Antonio had to do with the company's growth, which is about 20 percent year over year. And when the Pearl approached her about space at the campus she thought it would be a good move, Matthews said.

It's got so large that we can't handle the retail within facility anymore. It's an intrusion, she said. We're excited about the space.

Lee Lee Loves Shoes has plans to close its Alamo Heights location at 5932 Broadway to open at the Pearl, co-owner Sherry Leeper said. The business will move into a 1,030-square-foot space there, according to the Development Services website.

The company's move to the campus will broaden its customer base and fits with the Pearl's strategic push to attract local businesses, Leeper said.

The San Antonio Area Foundation also has plans to move into 18,000 square feet of space at the Lab Building, according to Express-News archives.

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Pearl to get new retail tenants

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In a tweak on perspective, the central corridor is wider at one end than the other, with a double herbaceous border, recently refurbished by a local garden adviser, Virginia Worsley, running down its length. Edged in catmint, Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', the flower colours warm progressively towards yellows, oranges and reds as the beds widen, and at the cool end, there is a particularly good blend of white-spired eremurus and verbascum, lemon thalictrum, coral-tinted macleaya, and spiky, silver-leafed cardoons. This concludes in a typical atmospherically charged, architectural flourish by the Bannermans a rustic temple made of oak, its pediment filled with antlers shed by the park's herd of ghostly white fallow deer. Oak obelisks carry the rustic theme down the borders.

'You can tell the Bannermans have been in here, too,' Lord Cholmondeley remarked as we got to the conservatory at the other end of the corridor, gesturing inside to another classically inspired feature: a fern and tufa-encrusted grotto fountain with water spilling from giant clam shells. In the adjacent compartment, devoted mainly to orchids, which come into the Hall as they flower, a carnivorous butterwort (Pinguicula) provided the gothic counterpart it lures and consumes insects by means of sticky, glandular leaves.

From here, the outer circuit walk takes you past a narrow, diamond-patterned box parterre, punctuated by clematis-hung tripods, backed by wall-trained apricots, peaches and nectarines, and filled with seasonal bedding. This includes tulips and wallflowers for spring, and in summer scented-leafed pelargoniums, chocolate cosmos and the conservatory heliotrope 'Chatsworth', whose heads of pale violet flowers give off a very potent aroma, flavoured somewhere between almonds and warm rubber. 'I absolutely love peonies,' Lord Cholmondeley declared, as we passed under the pergola of Japanese and Chinese wisterias, and came upon large beds of pink, crimson and white varieties, interspersed with lilies (scented white Lilium regale and 'Pink Perfection'), which is a trademark Bannerman touch, and accompanied by Japanese anemones.

Following one of the two secondary axial walks, you are led through a formal orchard 'I wanted to do something like this after going to Villa Cetinale [near Siena; one of Italy's most beautiful gardens, restored by the late Lord Lambton]' consisting of phalanxes of plum and crab apple trees separated by panels of pleached limes, with a grid of mown and rough grass, infiltrated by blue camassia and white Pheasant's Eye narcissi bulbs.

The Rose Garden beyond is huge. 'The design was taken from the ceiling of the White Drawing Room in the house, and we surrounded it with wavy yew hedges so you get views in and out.' The mass of flowers is provided by various categories of rose from once-flowering, old-fashioned shrub varieties; modern, repeat-flowering bushes such as 'Iceberg', pink 'Strawberry Hill' and red 'L D Braithwaite'; ramblers such as 'Crimson Showers', blush white 'Cecile Brunner' and 'Veilchenblau' (aptly described by someone as the colour of old bruises), and 'Little White Pet' are grown as standards. In the middle, amid cushions of lavender, are 17th-century Italian statues of gods and goddesses, with steps down to a sunken fountain pool, constructed by the Bannermans with tufa and flint, and ringed with pots of hydrangeas. It is a sumptuous ensemble, and beautifully managed by the head gardener Mhari Blanchfield and her team.

The other axial walk takes you first through the remnant of an old apple orchard, whose fruit is juiced to make cider; then under a new apple tunnel, underplanted with lily-of-the-valley and cleverly arranged in succession according to flowering time, so that in spring there is a ripple of apple blossom down its length; then through a small avenue of white 'Tai Haku' cherries, accompanied by box-edged beds of alternately dark and pale purple irises; and finally out into a croquet lawn, with niches in the surrounding yew hedge for double-headed Janus statues named after the Roman god who looks to both past and future. 'A bit disconcerting, as if someone is always watching you.'

A whole series of smaller gardens flank this walk, including patterned herb, vegetable and fruit gardens, the last presided over by a splendid soft fruit cage, the design of which was taken by the Bannermans from the dome of the nearby stable block. It is in the decorative paved enclosure beyond that Sybil Cholmondeley's initials appear in the swirls of box hedging. Shaded by umbrella-shaped plane trees, they surround a linear pond and tufa fountain.

But it is the fountain in the grassy Laburnum Garden next door that really has you gawping, for bobbing on top of the water jet is a real, live plume of fire. Sorcery surely? 'Actually, it is fuelled by gas, which travels up through the jet of water, rising as the water rises. It is especially lovely at dusk.' Designed by the Danish artist Jeppe Hein, it is one of the most mesmerising pieces of modern garden art I have ever seen, and is part of a series of contemporary artworks that Lord Cholmondeley has commissioned. I particularly liked the Full Moon Circle of Cornish slate by Richard Long, directly opposite the front door of the house, which is framed by newly installed avenues and plantations (inspired by the 1720s estate plan). Their crisp formality contrasts well with the sleepy pastoral setting of park and estate, which is grazed by picturesque British Longhorn cattle, and run organically skylarks, barn owls and English partridges all thrive here.

The restoration of the Houghton gardens is being tackled with great imagination and gusto. 'I am not yet a practical gardener like my mother,' Lord Cholmondeley said. 'But I can see myself becoming one.'

Houghton Hall is open until September 30 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays (houghtonhall.com)

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Restoration man: the story of Houghton Hall

RANDOLPH A car restoration business that prides itself on quality work has a simple goal helping people drive their dream.

Steve Gursky Jr. and his wife, Molly, own Driven Restorations, located at their rural Randolph home.

The Gurskys moved to Randolph from northwestern Wisconsin a few years go when Molly had a job change. A graduate of Wyotech, Steve said hes been working on cars since he was 8 or 9, and working on them professionally for about 12 years.

Driven Restorations will work on projects big and small, from a frame-off restoration to minor repairs and does almost everything in house except upholstery and machine work on engines. Driven Restoration fully document projects including photographs and videos so the owner can see the process.

The Gursksy said they try to stay with local suppliers as much as they can.

Steve said he takes pride in his work, and considers each car he works on to be an advertisement for his business.

People really notice the details, he said. Its all about the details.

Molly said a project can be restored back to stock, or customized with performance parts.

The Gurskys said the car scene is a lot bigger in this area than it was in northern Wisconsin. Steve had worked for an auto body shop on restoration and collision projects. He said hes not going to get rich working on restorations through his current business.

You have to have a passion to do it, Steve said.

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Car restoration business helps people drive their dream

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The people at Ryland Homes and its construction partners will be putting on their volunteering hardhats this summer when they join Habitat for Humanity in building a new home in Savage, MN. The effort is a part of Habitat for Humanitys nationwide Home Builders Blitz 2012, a partnership between Habitat affiliates and Americas building community. The focus of this years initiative is to use the talents and abilities of professional builders for the construction or restoration of over 200 homes in 100 different communities around the country.

Twin Cities Habitat is estimating that Ryland Homes will contribute $145,000 worth of materials and labor, and have waived fees on the project in Savage, which is currently underway.

There are a number of similarities between Ryland Homes and Habitat for Humanity, said Mike DeVoe, Division President of the Twin Cities Division for Ryland Homes. Both Habitat and Ryland are dedicated to providing homeowners with quality homes that not only provide a fantastic place to live, but that keep maintenance and energy costs down, too.

Habitat for Humanitys Home Builders Blitz began in North Carolina in 2002. Since that time, Habitat has partnered with builders nationwide to construct more than 860 homes. The Twin Cities Habitat affiliate builds and sells 60 homes per year to low-income, working families. The affiliate also provides assistance to 140 qualified low-income homeowners in completing essential repairs to their current homes. Under this plan, homeowners repay a unique 0% interest mortgage from Habitat and also complete extensive homeownership training courses and hundreds of hours of sweat equity as volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.

For 45 years, homebuyers have trusted Ryland Homes as a new homebuilder for truly livable designs, great neighborhoods, outstanding quality and a commitment to complete satisfaction in their new home. With a dedication to building homes that are energy-efficient and a better value to their customers, as well as a national strength rooted in local focus, Ryland Homes and its dedicated team prides itself on a day-to-day commitment to the customer.

For more information, please contact Diane Morrison, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, at dmorriso@ryland.com.

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Ryland Homes Announces Plans to Build a New Home in Savage, MN through a Partnership with Habitat for Humanity

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EAST CHICAGO | While most members of a local roofing union are on strike, area roofing contractors said Thursday they're using an all-hands-on-deck approach to help a Hammond-based firmfinish one of its important projects.

However, an attorney for the union said contractors have escalated the tense labor situation by continuing to do project work with personnel not in the bargaining unit.

Negotiations between the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 26 and the Northwest Indiana Roofing Contractors Association have been at a standstill since a recent contract expired May 31.

Union members have been on strike since June 1 and have organized consistent pickets of contractors' offices and job sites. Job sites where the union has signed project labor agreements are not affectedby the strike.

To avoid a project delay on the 56-unit Northtown Village Senior Apartments, Korellis Roofing President and Co-owner Pete Korellis said he reached out to supervisory personnel of competitors E.C. Babilla Inc. of Gary and Gluth Brothers Roofing Co. Inc. of Hammond to help.

Korellis said the partnership is rare in the area and shows the solidarity contractors have with one another.A small crew from the companies and Korellis' wife and business co-owner Susan Korellis, started work Wednesday on the project, which is part of the city's North Harbor revitalization plan.

Pete Korellis said by Friday, enough work can be done to allow inside work on the building to continue.

The construction timeline calls for work to be done by Sept. 30. The Community Builders Inc. is the project developer.

"Basically we help one another out when you're in need and heck, when Pete made the call and said hey, 'I need some help'; we're here and more than willing to give him any help that we can give him," said Russell Gluth, of Gluth Brothers Roofing.

Don Schwartz, a partner at Chicago-based law firm Arnold & Kadjan retained as counsel for the union, said it's rare for supervisory personnel to take this adversarial approach in collective bargaining.

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Roofing job assist rankles union on strike

JACKSONVILLE Three requests recommended by the Lake Advisory Board were denied at the Jacksonville City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Brandon and Brandy Bannister requested a variance from the council to build a retaining wall on their property. The council denied the request because it was in violation of the city lake rules and regulations.

Elridge Moak represented the Bannisters and said the proposed plan was for property improvement on privately owned land.

The motion was denied, stating any work done to the property would be at the homeowner's risk.

George Conrad were in the middle of building a 12-foot retaining wall and boat ramp, but was given a stop order by Will Cole, public works director.

The council members not only denied the request but asked Conrad to remove the work that was started.

Mo Raissi, city manager, said a committee was put together to analyze the rules and regulations of Lake Jacksonville a couple of years ago, but prevention of building of retaining walls was always in the regulations.

There was a reason that was put in place to protect the other homeowners, he said. When you change the shoreline, you're going to impact the lake. The water has to go somewhere and pushing the shoreline can cause a flood to your next door neighbor.

Raissi said lake side residents live outside the city limits but the properties are leased lots by the city. Lake residents pay an average of $30 a year on those lots, he said.

They can come ask the building officials to make sure they can a put retaining wall in, look at the property line, make sure they will not extend the property line, he said.

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Council rejects lake residents’ requests