After winning the bid on this historic restoration and new construction project, Building Specialists, Inc. teamed with historic architect Barry Rakes and the Town of Blacksburg to restore this 100 year old black history landmark. This was the black cultural center for the community of New Town, as well as for the entire African American population of Blacksburg during a time when their community was separated from the white community. A roughly 400sqft building was constructed in the adjacent parking area to house the museum office and ADA restrooms.
Our goal was to stabilize the historic structure and add adequate HVAC to house Blacksburg’s first museum. The first order of business was to get the Town of Blacksburg the most program for their budget. This started with an all team meeting including BSI, Barry Rakes and the Town of Blacksburg’s team to discuss options on the project. BSI then created an Excel spreadsheet for review that outlined options and costs ranging from product selection to reducing cost by transferring some of the scope of work to the Town’s in-house departments, without sacrificing quality.
