From the SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE .. today, May 19, 2007
The former Studebaker Administration building, which housed the South Bend Community School Corp. headquarters until 2006, is getting a $14 million restoration and renovation to convert the building into an office building for high-tech businesses.
May 19. 2007 6:59AM
Restoring Studebaker legacy Development group to invest $14 million in rehabilitation.
JAMIE LOO Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- The legacy of transportation in the walls of the old Studebaker Administration building will continue with the high-speed transportation of information.
The former South Bend Community School Corp. headquarters at 635 South Main St. is receiving a $14 million restoration and renovation as it is transformed into a high-tech office building.
The Heritage Restoration and Development Group LLC of Salt Lake City is the developer. Doug Chamberlain, principal of the development group, said his company was attracted to the building because it is "nearly perfect" structurally and is close to the St. Joseph Valley Metronet, a high-speed fiber-optic data transfer network. The building's proximity to the St. Joseph Valley Metronet is one of the property's greatest assets, he said.
The city has been working with the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and school corporation to find a another use for the building since 2004. The building was the Studebaker Corp. headquarters from 1909 to the mid-1960s. After that, it was the administrative building for the school corporation until 2006, when the school corporation moved to its new location on St. Joseph Street. The building was placed on the HLFI's 2006 "10 Most Endangered" list of Hoosier landmarks in jeopardy.
Although the city looked forward to having the South Bend Community School Corp. in the center of the downtown area, Mayor Stephen Luecke said the city knew the future of the former building would be very important.
These projects don't happen overnight, he said, and it was the public-private partnerships between the school corporation, HLFI, the Historic Preservation Commission of St. Joseph County, Heritage Development and the city that helped save the historic building for adaptive reuse.
"This is a day that both looks back into history and looks forward," Luecke said.
The Redevelopment Commission is committing $600,000 to the project, with the condition that the developer first invests more than $6 million in the initial restoration work on the exterior. The city's money would be used for infrastructure improvements such as curbs, sidewalks and lighting, and land acquisition for parking.
"This is a wonderful historic building," regional HLFI Director Todd Zeiger said.
Zeiger said it is the first poured concrete building built in the Midwest. The agreement also preserves one of only two Studebaker buildings that still will be standing in 2008.
"I love the connection of the history of this global transportation corridor. The old transportation, being the Studebaker corporation, and that new transportation, that fiber-optic highway that runs through this building," Zeiger said.
Chamberlain said the exterior restoration will be the first of a three-phase renovation process that is expected to begin this fall with building occupancy anticipated by October 2008. Research will be done to try to restore the look of the building to the way it was 100 years ago.
Work on the interior space will be based on a design build process with tenants to tailor the space to their specific needs, while still maintaining the historical integrity and significance of sensitive areas in the building, Chamberlain said. The panels of artwork along the ceiling in the main interior court will be restored and he also hopes to reopen the ceiling for a skylight.
"It will just be a grand feeling in that room," he said.
Chamberlain, who said the Midwest is "a treasure," is also restoring and renovating the historic Ben Hur Building in Crawfordsville, Ind.
He said he believes the old Studebaker Administration building project will be very successful because of the quality of life South Bend has to offer. Businesses that need to be near a high-speed data transfer hub and want to find a nice community for their employees to live in will find it here in South Bend, Chamberlain said.
"This town could be a very big satellite community for major corporations that want to move cost-effectively into a really nice community," Chamberlain said.
Staff writer Jamie Loo: snipped-for-privacy@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6337