Video by Cooper Slough
By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
What was once a bowling alley, then a thrift shop, the home of the Hays Community Theatre and now the Platinum Group – a new real estate agency – has found a home in the Chestnut Street District at 116 E. 11th. But getting the historic Hays building ready for modern use took vision and an almost unbelievable amount of work.
The building, along with the agency, are owned by real estate agent Adam Pray.
“We toured the building. There was plenty of space, and I just felt like it had a lot of potential,” Pray said.
After the tour, Pray knew this would be an ideal location for the agency.
“Downtown Hays, it is a very desirable place,” Pray said. “A lot of people enjoy being downtown. You’ve got just about anything you might want here in Hays.”
After touring the building, Pray began the process of trying to secure ownership of the building, a process completed just a few months later.
“We were fortunate enough to get it,” Pray said, noting there were several offers on the table for the building.
After the purchase, the HCT began working on the building, the first permanent home for the group. During the process HCT volunteer Stephen Brummer from SJB Designs came to Pray’s attention, a meeting that would shape the overall design of the building for both Pray and the Theatre.
“He introduced himself and said that he had the ability to do it,” Pray said, after talking to him more he found his ideas intriguing. “He had a lot of great ideas, that some of the other contractors didn’t have.”
“When it came down to it, he said, ‘Brummer, I think you’re the guy to do this,'” Brummer said.
And so the major work began.
The theatre group worked for months getting the larger open east side space ready — with a volunteer effort. During that process, a new wall was put in place to separate their space from the smaller offices that would be the home to the Platinum Group.
“They have a long-term contract with Adam to be able to be here,” Brummer said. “It will be a good start-up system for them.”
“Right away, we came in and started measuring out to depict how the theatre group could set up shop for them and, as I met Adam and we started talking about his possible uses for the building, right away I started conceptual plans for the whole building. And that’s when we started talking about the idea of creating seven offices,” he said.
The two sides are still somewhat joined as a sliding door opens up the office space to the theatre side, giving access to the only staircase leading downstairs. A separate stair system is planned to allow the HCT access.
The connection will allow Pray and his team to use the space, as well.
“Adam’s vision is to come in here and provide seminars or conferences. Now he’s got the space to incorporate that,” Brummer said.
The theatre side retained much of the same basic outline and openness from the ARC, but the transformation on the office side is much more significant.
“When they first bought it, it had the ugly vinyl floors and there was a glass atrium,” Brummer said, both of which were removed during construction.
One of the first major projects in the building was the replacing of the floors.
“Which helped the theatre side get their facility set up to where they could use it, but it made a little more work,” as the floor needed protected during construction, Brummer said.
To match the new floor, a much more dramatic ceiling was created.
“The original ceiling was about 10.5 feet tall. We came in and just started going by layer tearing out ceiling,” he said. The final ceiling is open to the top of the building, showing the original bracing from the building’s construction in the late 1930s.
Now that the major construction is complete, the building has a completely new feel, thanks to significant – but rewarding – effort.
“It’s a fun project, it’s neat to be able to see how it’s transformed from 1750 square feet of open space to 750 square feet of office space,” Brummer said.
Pray also shared the enthusiam after he has been able to relax in the new office space and reflect.
“It’s been one of the best construction experiences I’ve ever had.”