First-time homeowners took advantage of the solid bones of their 1904 house and added longevity, function and beauty.

JEFF PELLETIER APPROACHED the achy Queen Anne Craftsman like a skilled orthopedic surgeon, noting the age of the patient, assessing her weary bones and ultimately knocking her out and opening her up.

This was a major operation.

This is the first home for Kaitlyn and Jason Tamulonis, and its an old one, built in 1904. They loved its walkable neighborhood, its proximity to family and its charming aesthetic, but it had been limping along with painfully poor circulation since an unfortunate remodeling incident in the 1980s.

Assorted ailments included a sunken family-room addition that was like two separate homes next to each other; an enormous master bath with no shower; a massive master bedroom with no closets; and a series of really tiny, closed-off rooms, says architect Pelletier, of Board & Vellum.

A lot of older homes typically have large, open spaces; this was the most cramped house Ive ever worked on, he says. Early on, like a ball of string, we could slowly pull it all out and have it make sense. We tried to keep what we could, but the whole house was gutted.

And now its cured, thanks to the fusion of a strong, central spine: one single staircase.

The biggest problem was staircases everywhere: The front stair was like a dollhouse staircase, super-tiny; the one to the basement was like a ramp; and the addition had two staircases to the basement, Pelletier says. The staircase kind of designed the house. Solving the stair problem allowed everything else to happen.

Lots happened. By opening up the main floor, we created a grand space for entertaining, a quiet window seat off the entry and a generous mudroom at the back entrance, Pelletier says. The addition a few steps lower than the kitchen is now better integrated with the rest of the home. The house now has three full levels of living space, including a finished basement and second-floor master suite. Outside, theres a new front porch, an enlarged upper deck and a coordinating new two-car garage in back.

The result: beautiful, updated balance that works for the way a young family lives (Jason and Kaitlyn have a baby daughter, Julia, and a fuzzy pup, Kascade).

When youre planning, you look at compromises, Pelletier says. How do you turn whats there into opportunity? What battles do you fight? The goal was to have it all make sense, on a budget.

Smaller things made a big difference, Jason says. The upstairs front bedroom was slightly massaged and enlarged just enough after an earlier staircase vacated, says Pelletier, creating breathing room for a cozy nook.

Downstairs, expanded window wells pour light into Jasons office; a guest bedroom; and a big, open play area, where once there were crowded bedrooms, a utility space and a bizarre little bathroom aka, not a space you wanted to hang out, Pelletier says.

Off the family room, a mysteriously sited tall shower made way for a lovely mudroom, with built-in cubbies stuffed with baby and dog gear. And the newly proportional master suite gained a lovely shower and closet space.

Aside from that one critical, fully exposed staircase, Kaitlyn says, We dont feel like we splurged a lot. We got everything done in one go, with everything baby-friendly.

Like any professional with a first do no harm outlook, Pelletier is thrilled to have had a go at rejuvenation in the first place.

As first-time homebuyers, instead of tearing it down and building a box, they kept the bones that were there, he says. I love to remodel older homes. So many are chopped off. Theyre not sustainable. I feel like this remodel lasts another 100 years. The bones of the home are right now.

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A Queen Anne Craftsman gets a major remodel - The Seattle Times

Officials have released a rendering of the renovated West Carrollton library branch. (Photo: Dayton Metro Libraries)

WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) - The West Carrollton branch of the Dayton Metro Library will be closed beginning September 2 at 6 p.m. as port oft he countywide improvement project.

Officials are planning to add 5,000 square feet to the building, and add in few features that include a quiet reading room, a large community room and group study rooms, a fireplace and dedicated spaces for children and teens.

The project is part of Libraries for a Smarter Future, where multiple branches are getting renovations as part of a bond issue Montgomery County approved in 2012.

We have completed eight new or renovated Branches as well as the new Main Library in downtown Dayton, Jayne Klose, Dayton Metro Librarys Community Engagement Manager, said. Now its time to begin major work at the West Carrollton Branch Library, so that we can to provide state of the art Library service in that community.

A groundbreaking ceremony on the expansion will be September 12 at 2:30 p.m., and officials expect the renovated branch will be re-opened in the fall of 2018.

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West Carrollton library branch to close for expansion and remodeling - WRGT TV Fox 45

Dayton Business Journal

Another Dayton-area library branch to undergo expansion, remodel Dayton Business Journal 2 to begin an expansion and remodeling. The West Carrollton project expands the library from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, while remaining connected to the Civic Center. Features of the new library include a quiet reading room, a large community room ...

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Another Dayton-area library branch to undergo expansion, remodel - Dayton Business Journal

Over the Mountain Journal

Space Makers: AllSouth Kitchen Renovation Breaks Down Walls and Brings Family Together Over the Mountain Journal The renovation began just days after the New Year's holiday as gener- al contractor Reliable Remodeling began knocking down the wall that separated the kitchen from the front of the house and dining room. The laundry room was moved to a room between ...

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Space Makers: AllSouth Kitchen Renovation Breaks Down Walls and Brings Family Together - Over the Mountain Journal

Cassville Attorney Blake Fields, who previously practiced next to the late State Senator and Attorney Emory Melton, moved to his new location at 605 Main St. and was bestowed the honor of caring for Meltons law books, many of which date back to the early 1800s. He also has the late Attorney Tom Cardins law books and is the custodian of both of the attorneys records. Fields has memorabilia from both attorneys offices at his reception area dedicated to their memory. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

Project takes on historical focus

When Cassville Attorney Blake Fields moved from his office next to the late Senator and Attorney Emory Melton to his new location at 605 Main St., he planned to do a little remodeling, but had no idea the scope, nor the significance, the project would take.

Emory told me I could stay and use that building, but the Advertiser needed more space so it made more sense to move, he said.

As part of a remodeling project of his new building, Cassville Attorney Blake Fields set aside space to honor two previous attorneys, the late State Senator and Attorney Emory Melton and Tom Cardin, featuring memorabilia from their offices. One of the items is a plaque belonging to Cardin of a quote from Abraham Lincoln. Fields said Melton had the same quote displayed in his office. Fields will be hosting an Open House event on Aug. 21, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m for the community to see his new office and the amazing transformation of the building. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

Fields new building was the late Attorney Tom Cardins office and part of Chiropractor Kristy Montzs office space.

Tom had opened a wall between the two offices and made a passage through the two, said Fields, who was just planning to fix a broken truss, then remodel and move into Cardins

office, hiring Johnnie Hilery and T.J. Daniels to do the construction. We had to rebuild a truss, then found out others were rotten. It became an insane amount of work. We had to lift the ceiling, then rebuild the trusses, so it would sit at the correct height.

Local contractor Johnnie Hilery, left, works on the framework in what will be the reception area of Attorney Blake Fields new office, while his father, Gary Fields, helps out. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

When the ceiling came down, the plaster and woodwork came with it, impacting the entire building.

So Fields and his father, Gary, who helped with the construction, signed up for more than they planned for. But, as the project unfolded, it took on more meaning than anyone could have ever expected.

Fields consulted with his mother, Gayle, for the decor.

In the photo is the before picture of the hallway of Attorney Blake Fields new office at 605 Main St. What started out as just a ceiling repair turned into a nearly two-year remodeling project, but one in which Fields and his family, who helped with the remodel, say they are thrilled with. Fields is hosting an Open House event on Aug. 21, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m for the community to see his new office and the amazing transformation of the building. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

One of the ideas behind the decor was to give a sense of the towns history to look like you could have walked back into that time when the building was built, Gayle Fields said.

Another piece of the dcor was the feeling.

The first thing I asked Blake was, How do you want people to feel when they come in your office? Fields said. When you think about how people are feeling when they walk into an attorneys office, theyre stressed, worried, or intimidated. He didnt want people to feel like that. He said, I want them to feel comfortable, secure and at home.

The top picture shows buildings at 605 Main St. as they stood before Attorney Blake Fields completed a major renovation, while the bottom picture shows an architect sketch of what the building could look like remodeled, in conjunction with the Cassville Main Street Associations DREAM Initiative, which calls for downtown businesses to modernize and update the storefronts of their buildings to draw more visitors to the downtown area. Fields consulted with the association and drew from their design in his remodel project, making the exterior of his building nearly identical to their sketch, but made modifications that enhanced the exterior even further. Fields is hosting an Open House event for the community to see his office on Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

So, the office is designed so that you can walk in, grab a cup of coffee, sit in front of the fireplace, pick up the town paper and feel relaxed.

Blake Fields also wanted the space to look timeless.

His great-grandparents were Ma and Pa Fields, who started Fields Photos and took thousands of pictures in the area, and his grandfather was Max Fields.

Cassville Attorney Blake Fields recently completed renovations of his new building at 605 Main St. The building previously belonged to the late Attorney Tom Cardin and Chiropractor Kristy Montz. Fields is hosting an Open House event for the community to see his office on Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

I suggested putting up old pictures of Cassville, Gayle Fields said. The building gives a nod to the past and shows the pride people have in their town.

My dad, mom and I flipped through tons of photo archives looking for pictures that had historical significance and that people would recognize, Blake Fields said.

Part of the homey and timeless decor is the use of muted grays, soft whites, walnut-stained floors, a living-room-like setting, cathedral ceilings and the historic photos.

After a nearly two-year remodel project for Cassville Attorney Blake Fields and his family the lobby area of his new office has a new look. It was designed to look and feel more like the living room of a home, so that clients would feel comfortable and relaxed, said Gayle Fields, Blakes designer and mother. An Open House event is scheduled Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., for the community to see his new office and the amazing transformation of the building. Julia Kilmer/reporter@cassville-democrat.com

The colors are soothing and neutral, and the idea was to keep that sense of calm and not take away from the pictures and memorials we want people to focus on, said Gayle, who credits Hilery and Daniels for helping her materialize her vision. They brought exactly what I saw in my head and that vision to life.

The interior also pays homage to Melton and Cardin, with memorabilia from their practices on display at the reception counter.

Emorys service bell is one of Fields favorites. Also displayed are tables made of walnut trees from Meltons parents farm, and original law books from both attorneys dating back to the early 1800s.

I want to honor both men, and it was a great honor to work with Emory, he said. Emory is exemplary of the best of Cassville. If there was an avatar of Cassville, or even of small town Missouri, he would be it. He was a guy who had common sense solutions to problems, and was a man who tried to fix things instead of making them worse. If I were to achieve even a sliver of what he accomplished in his life, I would consider myself immensely successful.

Fields is now custodian of Meltons and Cardins records.

Emory was so wonderful to Blake, Gayle Fields said. And, the history of the building is Toms office. Thats why he wants to pay homage to these men to give back and to say, remember these great men.

Fields also has a wifi-equipped conference room available to the community to rent for presentations, designed to promote a sense of calm.

Fields is married to Kelsey Fields, who will be teaching fifth grade at Purdy, and has two boys, Max, 3, and Mick, 1. His areas of practice include D.U.I., family law, criminal law, personal injury, estate planning and probate.

With the Cassville Main Street Association urging downtown businesses to update their storefronts, in conjunction with their DREAM initiative, association representatives say he has set the bar high.

He made some modifications, but followed the DREAM outline in the remodeling of his building, said Carolyn Bishop, association president.

We drew on that design, Fields said. We were trying to create a building that would match the downtown feel.

To celebrate the completion of his building, Fields will host an Open House event on Aug. 21, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which is open to the community.

A lot have been very curious to see what weve done, he said. People were appreciative and supportive [following our progress on social media] that someone was wanting to improve the downtown area.

Now, he is ready to blend the past with the present and get to work.

It was long and stressful at times, but now that Im looking at it, it was entirely worth it, he said. The reason I wanted to do this was because this is an amazing home base for me to set up my career and raise my family. I intend to be here for a long time.

We rescued the building, Gary Fields said. It was in worse shape than I thought, and we fixed it.

Gayle Fields said she was very appreciative o the masonry work accomplished by Dane Crownhart and his crew. She said Crownhart was able to figure out her design ideas for the historical, old-time brick work, which was tricky with all of the intricate detail in the design,. She aid the family was pleased with the way it all worked out.

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Fields completes remodel of downtown building - Cassville Democrat

Last Updated Aug 7, 2017 5:03 PM EDT

It's time for White House staffers in the West wing to pack up and move -- temporarily -- to make way for necessary structural and cosmetic renovations.

Pods of furniture being moved out of the West Wing, Aug. 4, 2017.

CBS News / Jillian Hughes

Much of the White House face lift began Friday, as President Trump departed for what a White House official called a "working vacation." Mr. Trump denies it's a vacation, however.

It should be noted that the renovations have nothing to do with Mr. Trump's reported opinion that the White House is a "dump"(the president tweeted that the report was "TOTALLY UNTRUE").

The president will spend 17 days at his residence at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, while renovations are underway.

"All of us in lower press will miss seeing you guys every day but we're definitely looking forward to the much-needed renovations in the HVAC system, as well as throughout the rest of the West Wing," White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters told members of the media during a gaggle on Air Force One.

The 27-year-old White House heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are showing their age, so they're being replaced, leaving the West Wing without air conditioning temporarily. The West Wing lower lobby and in the Navy Mess kitchen, a small dining facility located in the West Wing basement are also being renovated.

The Navy Mess kitchen is run by the Navy and is available only to senior White House officials, Cabinet secretaries and their guests.

FILE photo of the White House Mess, a dining facility in the basement of the West Wing, next to the Situation Room

Whitehouse.gov

In back of the White House, the South Portico steps will get a much-needed update. The steps were rebuilt during President Harry Truman's major renovation of the White House in 1952 and have not been repaired since.

(Original Caption) Washington, D. C....Col. Douglas H. Gillette, left, of the Army Engineers Corps, and W. M. Russell, Chief Structural Designer on the White House repair project, hold a pine arc window which was installed in the White House in 1814, and removed during the remodeling project today. The men are seated on what remains of the south portico steps.

Getty Images

President Barack Obama poses with coach Roy Williams and members of the 2009 NCAA basketball champions University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Monday, May 11, 2009, in front of the South Portico of White House in Washington.

Charles Dharapak / AP

The renovation project was approved by the Obama administration following a previous update to White House utilities, but was never initiated. The work will be carried out by the General Services Administration, an independent government agency that helps maintain federal office space and oversees historic preservations.

Staff will be relocated to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door for at least two weeks. They were required to move many of their belongings out of their West Wing offices and "Pods," full of furniture and personal items, currently line West Executive Avenue next to the White House.

The staff relocation includes a move for the White House Press Office team out of their offices near the White House Briefing Room.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump's trip to New Jersey will be the fifth visit to his New Jersey golf club as president. He last visited the golf club three weeks ago, when the U.S. Women's Open was held on the premises.

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West Wing to be renovated while Trump is in New Jersey - CBS News

Katy family gets their dream kitchen Update turns dark, dated space into a family oasis

By Diane Cowen

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

AFTER: Candie and Steven Tramonte created an open kitchen concept when they remodel their Katy home.

AFTER: Candie and Steven Tramonte created an open kitchen concept when they remodel their Katy home.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

A Thermador gas range is at the heart of the kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

A Thermador gas range is at the heart of the kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

The kitchen remodel at the Katy home of Candie and Steven Tramonte.

BEFORE: Columns and a wall separated the living room from the kitchen of the Tramonte home.

BEFORE: Columns and a wall separated the living room from the kitchen of the Tramonte home.

"Before" photos of the home of Candie and Steven Tramonte, who remodeled the kitchen in their Katy home.

"Before" photos of the home of Candie and Steven Tramonte, who remodeled the kitchen in their Katy home.

Katy family gets their dream kitchen

Steven Tramonte stands at his Thermador range and grins like a kid in a candy store.

This is where he makes heavy pans of lasagna, nurtures tender meatballs and occasionally fries up a batch of doughnuts, just like his mother did when he was young.

It's right here - at the island in the middle of his kitchen- where the husband and father of two holds court. The Thermador's six burners and long griddle are filled with pots and pans when Tramonte is in full-chef mode.

"Spending a whole day cooking, as long as I've got wine or beer and some music going, I'm perfectly fine. I would be on my feet all day doing that," he said.

Tramonte and his wife, Candie, built their home in Katy's Cinco Ranch in 2008 thinking that the floor plan they chose was just what they wanted.

After a decade of living in it, they knew exactly what they needed to change.

Powder bathrooms: This tiny room is getting more attention in home remodeling projects.

The kitchen was separated from their living room by a wall with arched openings and columns, which made it a little difficult to move between the two spaces. The small in-kitchen pantry didn't quite serve their needs, and the breakfast nook in the back was so isolated that it felt like meals were being eaten in a place you'd be sent for a time-out.

Dining room and living room decorating projects and a backyard upgrade that added a summer kitchen and pool were already behind them.

They were saving this project because they knew it would be bigger, more costly and more disruptive.

Candie Tramonte spent hours on Houzz.com searching for designers and homes, looking at kitchen after kitchen. She found Cindy Aplanalp-Yates of Chairma Design Group, who ultimately had them renovate their kitchen and breakfast nook and use more than 100 square feet of garage space for a jaw-dropping pantry big enough to also provide office space for Candie.

Before, slate flooring, black granite counters and dark-stained cabinets combined for a heavy look. It's not that their kitchen wasn't nice - it was just dated and dark.

Cindy Aplanalp-Yates of Chairman Design Group offers this advice for people considering a home remodeling project.

* Get comfortable with your investment. The home upgrade and its cost need to fit your neighborhood.

* Consider your lifestyle.

* Do it now. Don't delay a remodeling job just to sell your home. Do it now and enjoy it yourself.

* Move vs. remodel: If you're considering buying a new house instead of remodeling, make sure the space fits your family. Bigger isn't necessarily better.

* Look at your lighting: If you home is filled with simple builder-grade fixtures take them down right now and replace them with something fabulous.

* Don't ignore window treatments. Whether you use draperies, shades or anything else, nice window treatments will elevate any room.

* Color choices. Not only is gray still popular, but also there are so many shades that it can be hard to choose the right ones. If you like the look in the Tramontes' home, the cabinets are Sherwin Williams Dorian Gray and their walls are Repose Gray.

Getting to their now-gleaming bright and light new space began with a complete gut job to their kitchen, breakfast nook and a 9-foot-by-12-foot portion of the three-car garage.

"I love working in kitchens. So many great things happen in the kitchen - everyone congregates there," Aplanalp-Yates said of the project.

For the three months of renovation, a big tarp hung where their kitchen once began. Candie Tramonte set up an ingenious temporary kitchen in the laundry room, creating a makeshift pantry using hanging closet shelving to store food and learning to cook exclusively using a slow cooker and a microwave.

They moved their kitchen table and refrigerator to the foyer and washed dishes in the outdoor kitchen.

"It would probably be a problem for other people, but we did it. I don't think the kids even remember that we didn't have a kitchen for three months," the laid-back mom said of 10-year-old daughter, Mia, and 7-year-old son, Tanner.

Part of the construction required adding an 18-foot support beam to handle the load previously held up by the columns. Three small vertical windows over the kitchen sink turned into one much larger window that looks into the backyard and the neighborhood green space beyond.

Creamy white porcelain tile replaced the dark slate on the floor, and in place of the black granite counters is now a durable gray-white quartz. Cantilevered light fixtures and beautiful window treatments polish it all off.

"Marble is beautiful, but I knew it would not work for them," Alplanalp-Yates said. "It needed to support their lifestyle instead of getting in their way. I didn't want them to worry about red wine spills."

When the pantry became a whole room of its own, the Tramontes found themselves with space for so much more than food and shelving. That's where they moved their original appliances to make room for the high-end appliance package - the range with a Thermador dishwasher, vent hood and refrigerator - to be installed in the new kitchen.

Shifting things around was part of Aplanalp-Yates' strategy to get the most out of every inch in the house.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

"I'm always looking for space that can be better utilized. What's in your garage? Bikes you don't use, camping equipment you don't use," she said.

Candie Tramonte chimed in: "It made us smarter about how we store our junk."

That out-of-the-way breakfast nook now is a hot spot for gathering. Instead of an ordinary round table and chairs, a smart banquette wraps around three sides of a table, finished with two upholstered chairs. All of it is covered in family-friendly, stain-proof Sunbrella fabric.

Drawers at each end of its base hold the kids' things; Mia has a drawer full of slime jars.

"Everything we did was keeping in mind we have elementary-school-aged kids," she said. "We just don't have time to baby countertops or to make sure that your kid's not spilling juice or making their slime over there. I've got tons of slime. My daughter is obsessed with it."

Link:
Katy family gets their dream kitchen - Houston Chronicle

A rendering of the hotels front, facing Cesar Chavez Street. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

Ive been waiting patiently for word on the Line Hotel project remodeling the downtown Radisson at Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street for the better part of a year. Im so patient, in fact, that I mocked up some terrible renderings of what the hotel project might look like post-remodel.

With these new promotional renderings from the Line Hotels parent company Sydell Group, Im pleased to announce that I was right about the one thing that mattered: Fixing that weird little curved roof piece with the Radisson logo on it.

A rendering of the buildings remodel, looking north from the Congress Avenue Bridge. That part of the roof is square now, see? Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

Heres my mock-up of what I imagined the remodeling might look like. Many people are telling me I did a tremendous job on this prediction. More and more people are asking how I knew the logo would go there, and its a huge win for me. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group / Photo illustration by James Rambin.

Predictions aside, its great to see whats in store for the space. The 428-key midcentury Radisson building, originally constructed as the Crest Inn in 1965, always deserved a project like this rather than the wrecking ball. When the buildings remodel removes some of the clutter, the subtle elegance of design cues like the arched windows of each room really shine through.

The interior design, a collaboration between designer Sean Knibb and local architect Michael Hsu,certainly looks like an upgrade as well.

A lounge at the Line Hotel. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

Another view of the Lines bar area. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

The remodeled pool deck of the Line. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

What appears to be a typical look for a room at the Line. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

A map of two floors of the Lines lobby and ballroom areas. Photo courtesy of Sydell Group.

According to promotional materials, the Line will include three restaurants and is set for opening in 2018 hopefully then this prime piece of real estate downtown can live up to its full potential.

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A First Look at the Line Hotel, Reinventing Austin's Midcentury Downtown Radisson - TOWERS Austin (blog)

(Shenandoah) -- As a major construction project continues at Shenandoah Medical Center, officials are putting the finishing touches on the hospital's emergency department.

The new and expanded emergency room is expected to be fully operational by the end of this week. The improvement is part of phase two of the hospital's $22 million upgrade. The new ER includes five exam rooms, three trauma bays, a triage room, a specialty room for psychiatric patients, secure facilities and a new ambulance bay. Dr. Santosh Kumar is medical director for SMC's emergency department. He says with the added space comes several new services the department can offer.

"We have included quite a few new services which includes things for our surgery side, psychiatric and mental health services, better trauma beds, more trauma rooms and a physician-staffed ER 24/7, which is a huge accomplishment for us," said Kumar.

Kumar says the new ER was in the planning stages for quite some time.

"My guess that thousands of hours went into the planning for this," said Kumar. "We spent six or seven months where all we did was plan. We visited big ERs and small ERs at lots of hospitals. I personally went to Nebraska Medicine because they were doing renovations, and we wanted to learn what mistakes they made in planning or what they did which worked well for them."

The new department is near where the old ER was located on the west side of the hospital. ER staff has been in place using most of the remodeled space for the past couple months, as the finishing touches are being put on additional space. Kumar says his staff is delighted with the increased space and modern facility.

"It's like we were driving a Chevy and now we have a Cadillac," said Kumar. "You can just feel the excitement. We are all very, very excited. More than that, we are all from the community, so it's excitement for us in two ways; as a staff working here and as people in the community. This is huge for us."

Kumar says a hospital's emergency department must be equipped with the latest technology, because it's often where people are most nervous when they visit the hospital.

"Most healthy people's visit to the hospital is either for well-check or you come to the ER for some reason," said Kumar. "When you come to the ER, it's the most anxious part of the hospital. Either you or your family member is sick and they need help right away. That's when the ER makes a difference. It leaves an ever-lasting impact. If you have a good experience with the ER, it sticks with you for a long time."

Kumar says he hopes the community and surrounding area will take pride in having a state-of-the-art facility in their backyard.

"This is not just one person's dream," said Kumar. "This is the whole community, every staff that works with us and some staff who left, this is all their dream. It took a lot of effort from every one of us. I really thank our board for making this happen."

The completion of the new emergency department is part of phase two of the remodeling project at the hospital. Phase one included a new medical office building, clinic and front entryway, which was unveiled last December. The rest of phase two includes remodeling of the surgical center, which is expected to be completed this winter. A $20.35 million USDA loan is covering the cost of a majority of the project.

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SMC emergency room gets remodel as part of construction project - KMAland

A popular local fast-food restaurant soonwill temporarily shut down as part of a major remodeling project done by the company.

The Chick-Fil-A at 1332 Jeffreys Road in Cobb Corners will be closed for a month. Franchise owner Bob Lehnes said the restaurant will close after Aug. 12 and re-open sometime in mid-September.

Lehnes said the company will be investing about $1 million in the renovation of the local restauarant. Lehnes, who moved Chick-Fil-A to its current location in 2001, said this is usually around the time when the company remodels its restaurants.

Were approaching right at 16 years, Lehnes said.Typically, when a store is about 15 years old, Chick-Fil-A looks at remodeling it. For the most part, theyre going to gut the store.

The upgrades to Chick-Fil-A will involve plans to add about 20 feet or more to the back of the building to expand and upgrade the kitchen area.

The kitchen will be truly designed to handle the volume of business that were doing, he said. When we re-open, we will have roughly 30 percent more capacity to cook. We will also have two grills instead of one. If one goes down for maintenance reasons, we will still have a backup and not be losing product.

The Chick-Fil-A will have double drive-thru lines to help accelerate service for customers.

We will have two ordering points and two lanes approaching the ordering points, which we feel will help expedite and speed up the drive-thru a little more, Lehnes said.

Lehnes added the revamped look will have the front counter being a little further out, but the restaurant will maintain five registers on the counter plus a special dedicated register for pick-up and catering orders.The condiment bar at the front of the restaurant will be replaced by smaller condiment bars that will be located in both the front and back part of the dining area, Lehnes said.

A big bench table will be added in the dining room, which can accomodate up to eight to 10 people, Lehnes added.

Its always nice when they put this in other stores, Lehnes said. That usually seemed to be well-received by your larger families, youth groups or large groups of teenagers that come in and want to sit together.

The renovations will cause some seating impact in the dining room.

That push-out of the front counter will have us end up losing about 10 seats in the whole scheme of it all, which is probably the only negative, Lehnes said.But were one of the larger Chick-Fil-As as far as seating capacity. We usually dont have as many challenges with inside seating as some other restaurants.

The remodeling will impact 90 to 100 Chick-Fil-A employees.Lehnes said the plan is to have some employees placed at nearby Chick-Fil-A restaurants in Wilson and Roanoke Rapids and possibly at Greenville. Some full-time employees, who have known about the remodeling coming for the past two years, will take paid vaction time, Lehnes said.

Lehnesalso will be taking staff to a few Chick-Fil-A restaurants in the region, which have both the new kitchen design and multi-lane drive-thrus for them to observe the operations. There are also plans to add additional staff.

Were going to be hiring during that four-week down period, Lehnes said.We always expect a good bump up in sales after we re-open. We feel this is going to set us up for future success and growth of the business.

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Chick-Fil-A to close temporarily for remodeling - Rocky Mount Telegram