Adaptive reuse for the win
By: J. David Chapman/January 18, 2024
I like the reuse of things, but I especially love adaptive reuse of buildings.
In architecture, adaptive reuse refers to the repurposing of an existing structure for a new use.
Many examples can be found, such as converting a historic train station into an office space, an old lighthouse into a restaurant, or a neglected gas station into a coffee shop or pub. Architectural adaptive reuse breathes new life into historic structures by converting them into something useful for the community. This may be the only way to save a specific historic building and preserve the story behind its existence.
Commercial real estate developers frequently handle adaptive reuse projects because they have the financial resources and construction expertise required to successfully renovate these structures. Julie and I are contemplating readapting two “Sears & Roebuck” kit homes built in 1918 into a retail/restaurant village we are calling “The Sear’s Village” in downtown Edmond.
I live in England one month out of the year. I love touring old churches and attending services in some of the world’s most historic buildings. Unfortunately, most people visiting these religious facilities are tourists interested in the architecture and history and very few people are worshiping in these awesome churches.
A few years ago, Jeff Lawerence, pastor at Redemption Church in Edmond, contacted me and tasked me with finding him and his congregation a new home. They had a heart for reaching people in the urban/core of Downtown Edmond. After searching for more traditional uses, I quickly exhausted all possibilities.
I had been visiting with Jerry Smith, the owner of Jerry’s Automotive, and he was ready to sell his large metal building that had been an automotive shop for three generations. Having a heart for adaptive reuse and God, Matthew Myers and I had the crazy idea to propose the automotive shop as the new location for Redemption Church. Pastor Lawerence and the church Elders toured the tired, oily, old, metal building on a Saturday morning, and, lo and behold, they actually saw possibilities of adaptive reuse and a new home for their congregation.
As the entire Myer and Chapman families sat at the 2023 Redemption Church Christmas service and listened to Pastor Jeff Lawerence preach the story of Christ, I was thankful that the small congregation took a leap of faith to adapt that old automotive shop into a community-impacting church. It is truly having an affect on the downtown community.
– J. David Chapman is professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu)