The renovation of a historic downtown Ellijay building at the corner of College and North Main Street has been on and off for a few years now, but a recent restart of the project is bringing new activity to the Kay building.
Once used as Ellijay Motor Company, a local Chrysler dealership, then the garage of mechanic Carter Kay, the almost 6,000-square foot triangular building, which dates back to the 1930s, has sat vacant for decades. It was purchased in 2018 by Edward McDonald, a federal government security contractor, who’s still the owner.
In 2019, the Ellijay Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) gave a certificate of appropriateness to an exterior renovation plan for the three-floor project. Then, plans included the main floor being used as a corporate office for McDonald’s security company, Excalibur Associates.
Zach Stalnaker, property manager for the renovation, said a new builder, Timber Creek Contractors, of Villa Rica, has since been hired, but the project plans are basically the same.
“To my knowledge, nothing has really changed from the original plan in 2019 to the point where we are today, other than it was kind of up in the air whether we would have an elevator back then,” he added. “We’ve gotten all of our engineering diagrams signed off by (code enforcement) and the HPC. The layout is a little different, but still very similar to the way it was.”
Stalnaker said steel framing will soon be installed as a skeleton to support the brick building, and a new concrete roof will follow. The old roofing was recently removed and will be replaced with an elevated concrete slab that can support overhead foot traffic.
“That (old) roof down to the framing was rotten and was going to be removed even in the prior planning,” said Stalnaker.
The redone rooftop will serve several purposes, including a greenspace with planters and a greenhouse, as well as an event space that can be rented for private gatherings. “I think (the rooftop) is definitely going to bring that end of the downtown district together,” said Stalnaker.
Plans for the second floor include “prototype development for self-sufficiency lifestyle technology projects” in another business run by the building owner, Stalnaker noted.
“It’s sustainable gardening and sustainable living, green energy and sustainable energy. It’s going to be more of a showroom and maybe some small development of prototypes to try and bring some concepts into fruition,” he added. “The second floor will be a mezzanine, so it won’t completely cover the entire first floor of the building. Everything that’s not covered by the second floor will be open to the ceiling, and everything below the second floor will be office space.”
A glass elevator is planned for the inside of the building to connect all three floors, Stalnaker said. The rooftop and second floor will both feature sustainable gardening methods and equipment.
“The people who will be drawn to the self-sustaining lifestyle end of the business would be those who are interested in sustainable energy, sustainable food sources and things like that,” he said. “We’ll have more of the concepts and ideas that you would use inside (on the) inside and more of the things you would use outside (on the) outside.”
A lot of work still remains, but all involved are hoping the renovation will be finished by next year.
“We’re hoping to have the building completed by the end of this year, but that’s with weather permitting and other things like that. We hope for it to be no later than quarter one of next year,” Stalnaker said.