The interior brick walls along the stair that were once covered in black char from the 80’s fire have been scraped. The stairs have been rebuilt leading to the second floor.
Heading into the second floor, the window and door opening from the fire was preserved showing the fire damage.
Where there once was a hole in the floor, now there is a kitchen finished with Alberene soapstone counters and Wolf Cabinets.
The Harmony Square Dairy Queen in now open. Stop in and check out the space. The store offers a great breakfast – I have tried it and it is worth the trip. Of course, my favorite remains the blizzards made by the sun. To top it off, this may be the greenest Dairy Queen in the country. The space features high performance insulation, tube skylights, solar panels, on-demand water heating, and LED lights. Here is a look back at photos from the final days of construction.
Signs Installed
Spoons on the doors.
Interior signage done – Welcome to your Harmony Square Dairy Queen
Furniture put together.
On-demand water heating system for low energy bills.
Stormwater management system to filter first flush pollutants.
2015 was a year of growth for The Gaines Group, PLC in both Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. As the economy came back stronger than it has been in the last eight years, we saw tremendous growth in both number and diversity of projects. It was a great year all around.
I started with the firm in 1999. This marks my 15th year working with Ray and Roger taking away my graduate school time. Many things have changed over the years. Roger and I are partners, our firm name moved from Raymond E. Gaines, Architect to The Gaines Group, PLC. We have grown to include two offices and 10 people. Our depth and skill with over 100 years of combined experience is better than it has ever been before. We have seen talented and amazing designers come and go over the past 17 years. However, I believe right now we have the best team that we have ever had. As we move into our 30th year in business we have some big plans. I look forward to sharing the news with you as things are finalized. Thank you for your support on social media and in the community as a whole. I am looking forward to 2016 and expect big things.
It has been an amazing year here at the Harrisonburg Gaines Group office. We grew adding Hannah Jackson to our team. Deborah and I stayed very busy all year with a huge variety of projects. We were able to provide healthy, energy-efficient, and durable design to more than 35 different clients out of our valley office (more than double the previous year). The year was good both in quality of projects and economics of projects – what more could I ask for as a business owner in the valley. This success is all because of you giving us opportunities. Whether you hired us to do design, viewed a blog post, liked a facebook post, told someone about our company, or wrote a review of our work online – you helped us sustain, grow, and thrive here in the valley – so Thank You. Thank you for allowing me to help others, to do something I enjoy as a career, to survive here in the valley. Thank you.
My Christmas wish for you is for you to find peace, comfort, and love during this wonderful season. I wish for you to have family and friends by your side to help you through any obstacle you face. I wish for you a Merry and Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Well it is December 23rd, so probably time for you guys to finish your Christmas shopping. Ok, who are we fooling, it is time for some of you guys to start your Christmas shopping. I know it is hard to figure out what she is dreaming of, so I am here to help. Every girl I know LOVES getting energy efficiency tools that will help lower electric bills and save the planet. Here are some ideas:
LED Bulbs
Solar Panels – who does not love a good solar panel?
Spray Foam – girls LOVE spray foam
An Energy Audit (call me and I might be able to provide a basic one for free)
Energy audits are an inspection that looks at energy flow in a building. The objective of an audit is to identify things that can be modified to reduce energy usage and increase comfort and safety for the occupants of the building.