It's not always easy being green in modern- day construction. But somehow Dave Young, serial entrepreneur and developer, has managed to make it look easy — especially now that his latest project, restoring a prominent five-story building in Fort Atkinson, Wis., is in the midst of receiving its finishing touches, featuring more than a splash of green.

It was almost five years ago when Young decided to buy and restore the proud pillar of Fort’s main street that was once home to The Creamery Package Manufacturing Company. Born in the 1920s, the building changed hands several times during its lifespan but always redeemed its manufacturing veneer. Preserving a piece of Fort Atkinson’s heritage is a heavy burden to bear, but Young was up for the challenge.

The property was first developed in the 1800s by Cornish, Curtis and Green, and was used as a manufacturing site for wooden silos and wooden butter churns. The Chicago-based Creamery Package Manufacturing Company later purchased the property. In the early 1920s, the current five-story building was erected on the site.

Until four years ago, the property was active on four of the five floors. The highest floor, the fifth floor of the building, had been unoccupied since the early 1950s. Since the building was erected as a manufacturing facility, there was not an obvious style or feel to the building, but Young viewed it differently.

“I appreciate the quality of this project and the excitement this project must have generated for the original developers,” Young said. “There was not much done in the way of caring for the building over the 80 years or so it existed, but she spoke to me and I listened. Once we peeled back the years of partitions, drop ceilings and paint, we uncovered a wonderful post-industrial designed structure.”

What Young stumbled upon while shedding the partitions of this 80-plus year-old-building became the driving force behind this huge restoration project. Young took advantage of incorporating the old with the new; mixing recycled relics with green building techniques.

To help him breathe life back into the Creamery Building, Young recruited his father, David.

“Dave took me through the building and that was it,” David said. “I actually called him and asked him for the job of helping with the nitty-gritty work of hiring contractors, demolition, electrical etc.”

Having prior experience in construction, David was ready for the challenge and shared his son’s passion for the revitalization project.

Tracing the timeline of the Creamery Building’s rise and fall and rise again, David said demolition and deconstruction work lasted for a little more than a year.

“We hauled out boilers and took out the entire infrastructure, including all plumbing systems, heating, electrical and high-pressure steam radiators in the building. All office spaces in the building were removed. We literally took it back to a shell inside and out,” David said.

But David said the most challenging part of the renewal project was managing the oversized windows.

“Each window contained individual, single panes of glass. We couldn’t just break the glass to get the windows out. There were 4,000 panes, and we had to break each one,” David said.

Salvaging much of the original windows’ framework for the building’s interior aligned with the Youngs’ desire to keep within the realms of building green.

In addition to the window frames, the crew recycled more than 60 yards of paper abandoned by previous tenants and occupants.

“We’re also proud of the fact that we were able to put close to 295,000 pounds worth of scrap back into the building instead of plugging the landfills,” David said.

Other energy-efficient elements incorporated into the restoration include :< br>

• Modulating boilers that heat up and cool down as needed.
  
• Fluorescent lighting that consumes less electricity.
  
• Sensor-controlled lighting to go out automatically when there’s no one in the room.
  
• Heating and air-conditioning systems that utilize large-volume units for ducts.
  
• A Carrier comfort system which allows each space to be controlled efficiently and allows changing of set points as space requires.
  
• Automatic blinds to use and manage passive solar power for heating and reflection.

“We also went with the idea of using solar sensors to actually control the blinds based on the sun and time of day,” David said.

“We did a great deal of research on building green,” David said. “The challenging part was assessing what we really could do. We grounded our green building efforts in utilizing energy efficiencies while remaining true to the building’s original design and character.”

With almost 100,000 square feet of space, the building houses a mix of retail and office spaces. A 100-foot-by-20-foot mezzanine exists on the third floor. This mezzanine accommodated overhead cranes in the building’s original design. From the stunning views to the special space created by the balcony effect, the building offers enormous rewards. Additionally, the fourth floor is open for development and envelops some 15,000 square feet wrapped in glass almost from floor to ceiling. However, David said he is most satisfied with how the fifth floor — home to VyMaC Corporation and its affiliate companies, Verlo Mattress Factory Stores and Durable Products Company — turned out.

“The open space is very attractive,” David said. “It’s very unusual to see any office space like this that doesn’t have a ceiling. The conduits and open-exposed ductwork do not spoil the aesthetics of the space. They accent the style of the building.”

Young agrees with his father, citing that from the onset he never envisioned the fifth-floor space to contain cubicles and obtrusive walls.

“We wanted it to be free and open both in the environmental sense and in the sense of building teamwork,” Young said. New mechanical and electrical systems will be installed throughout the building. Deterioration of these systems was partly responsible for the building’s use during the past years.

A glass-backed elevator offering accessibility to the five floors of the building and rebuilding of the two existing elevators are completed. Mirroring its roots as a manufacturing facility, one of the existing elevators is a freight elevator capable of moving an automobile up to the fifth floor. The glass-backed elevator boasts spectacular views of Main Street and the river.

Young said the demolition and preparation that has gone into this labor of love is immense.

“We are so pleased to have the time and expertise to assemble the right people for the tasks. The ability to take the building back to its very foundation, repair the damaged areas and proceed with the latest technologies, while remaining true to the building’s heritage, has been truly rewarding,” Young said.

Along with newly created office and retail space, a private parking area has been created to accommodate more than 50 vehicles with an additional 20-car interior parking garage with private access to the elevator system. There are several common areas planned for the building including an outdoor courtyard and loading docks with freight elevator access.

Renovation extends to the second piece of the building, referred to as the North Building. This all cream-city brick building lends itself to a warehouse building but, again, wrapped in glass.

“The North Building would be an excellent single-tenant opportunity for a restaurant or a brew pub,” Young said. “It has separate entrances and is of course, ADA compliant. I am also in discussions with one retailer who would like to use this space as a warehouse for a retail location he is considering in the main building.”

Young concluded by saying there are many opportunities for a project of this scope and scale.

“The real challenges, however, are picking the right tenants to ensure strong stewardship of the property we have worked so hard to bring back to its former glory. There will be great tenants in a great building when we are done here,” Young said. “Anyone seeking a drop ceiling and the hum of fluorescents overhead should look for space elsewhere.”

For more information about the Creamery Building or to receive a tour, contact Julie Henningfield at jhenningfield@verlo.