CEDC Opens New Office
by Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Business
The most spectacular view we have in Thunder Bay is the majestic Sleeping Giant looking over the pristine Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Steve Demmings, CEO of the Thunder Bay CEDC wants to capitalize on that with his new 5000 square foot office. Loris Pradal, Vice President of Louis Pradal & Sons completed the renovation of the office space in the historic Whalen Building in Thunder Bay’s Northward.
“ We are used to this kind of work with the demolition and the reconstruction. For instance on the safes located on each floor it basically took a cleaning off of the old paint that had accumulated for almost a hundred years and refinishing them applying a paint and
the stencilling to resemble the old lettering. This was done very well by Dynamic Painting. The marble on the floors had yellowed and cracked so we had it ground down, polished and finished. The doors were painted to match all the others in the hallway,” stated Loris Pradal. “ It was an normal renovation cost with the most effort spent on the boardroom and reception areas.”
The exterior of the historic Whalen building is all panels that were glued on to cement. It was a package that was made up and delivered to Port Arthur at the time designed by a Montreal Architect. “ The Whalen is very solid structure. The building is all poured concrete with reinforcing. It is a Terra Cotta construction which is the panels are place like a big brick but are not brick material but hand made,” said Gino Pradal President of Louis Pradal
& Sons. “ Kuch Stephenson did the interior design of the CEDC office so they could roll the sections of the boardroom tableout and have a big meeting room or bring them in and sit down. We did all the mill work in the project. The board room table is in three sections
and rolls on wheels. The reception counter also rolls. It took a little bit of doing but we have a very talented millwork staff. The boardroom doors also open up with a folding design created by the architects.”
“ The biggest part of the project was the assistance we got from the maintenance people of the Whalen building. They were always there to help us, were really an asset and very useful throughout the whole project. Everyone were local subtrades on the project and we all
worked together very well. Most of them we have worked with many times in the past. We were all on the same wave length,” stated Loris Pradal. “ We are very happy with the result. The CEDC with Steve Demmings were very helpful. It was a lot of fun doing the project. It is nice to see the building used to it’s full potential. The view you get from the office is spectacular with the Sleeping Giant.”
