June 5, 2005 Section: Business Edition: Madison Co. and West TN edition
Revival of the fittest NED B. HUNTER
Aeneas rose from the rubble to restore its service quickly after its office was destroyed in 2003 storm; Now, the company has finished remaking a former church into its new home
Abandoned by its congregation in 1998, the historic, former Cumberland Presbyterian Church in downtown Jackson was losing its battle against God's elements. A leaky roof had allowed rain water to collect in the basement. Mold was destroying wooden rails, pine floors and walls. Only various city dwelling animals continued to seek sanctuary inside the former church. "When we started renovations, we had pigeons living in here," recalled Jonathan Harlan, owner of Aeneas Internet and Telephone. Harlan purchased the former church in August 2003, after his headquarters on South Church Street was reduced to rubble by the May 2003 tornado. He said he purchased the building largely because of reconstruction costs. At $60 a square foot, Harlan would have paid approximately $1.44 million to purchase and restore the 24,000-square-foot former church located on Cumberland Street in downtown Jackson. But what Harlan saved in cash, he spent in sweat equity. The church had been abandoned for nearly seven years, and the decay and rot of wooden floors, combined with excessive mildewing, gave the dying building an "indescribable odor" that lingered for nearly a year and a half after renovations began, said Jonathan's wife, Fiona Harlan, who helped restore the former church. "When they abandoned the building, they just left everything there," Fiona Harlan said. "We found wedding dresses, Christmas presents, Christmas trees and food in the refrigerators that was years old." Getting started Before the Harlans and crew of about eight men could begin restoration, they had to put a new roof on the structure, "just to stabilize the building." Beginning in the rear of the L-shaped building, the Harlans' first job was to sweep nearly two feet of water from the basement, which now houses the company's digital data equipment. To restrain restoration costs, Jonathan Harlan salvaged items from the former church and Aeneas' old headquarters, such as the two, 170 pound each, solid oak doors constructed in the 1870s that now lead into the former sanctuary in the front of the building. The wooden customer service desk also is a piece of salvage from the former church that the Harlans stripped to its steel structure. "We sand blasted, ripped, pulled, gutted anything that had wood in it, because it had gotten moldy from the elements," Jonathan Harlan said. Streaking across the inside ceiling is a vast network of corral-colored conduit. Intertwined with blue and yellow water pipes and data transmission lines, the conduit threads through the building delivering electrical power. Instead of replacing the drop ceilings, Harlan further reduced restoration costs by increasing the amount of insulation in the building's attic area and painting the exposed infrastructure above workers' cubicles. Combined with multi-colored walls: "The project took over 600 gallons of paint," said Fiona Harlan. Or about $7,200 at an average of $12 per gallon. Restoring the faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Cumberland Street in downtown Jackson was originally built in 1916, replacing an earlier building of the same denomination. Two additions were added to the building, the last in 1966. Unable to keep up with needed repairs, the congregation abandoned their building in 1998. The 41-year-old Harlan started Aeneas with a $67,000 line of credit after the federal government deregulated the telephone industry in 1996. The company, which began as an Internet service provider, has nearly 10,000 customers throughout Tennessee. Harlan bought the former Cumberland Church in August 2003, and expects Aeneas' new location to save his company more than $100,000 a year in infrastructure costs and rent. With their reflections shining in the hardwood pine floor of the former sanctuary, nearly 120 area business owners and residents came to tour Aeneas' new home during the May 26 Business After Hours gathering. The restoration project that began in August 2003 was completed in April and opened to public viewing. "It is a beautiful building," said Chris Graham of Graham Snack Foods Inc., who attended the May social with his wife. "The main building-the old sanctuary with the hardwood floors and the big windows-is just beautiful." The sanctuary, which can now be rented for community or business meetings, is the original 1916 church structure and the last section to be renovated. It is the area of the former church where members once worshiped. Nearly all of the hardwood flooring in the 2,900-square-foot room is the original "heartwood pine," Harlan said. Workers were able to restore and refinish the flooring at a cost of approximately $10,000. While the original stained-glass windows were removed for use in Cumberland Presbyterian's new home on the U.S. 45 Bypass, the frames of the 20-foot-tall windows were refurbished and installed with new glass for natural lighting. It took nearly eight months to restore this section of the former church. Despite the cost effectiveness of purchasing and restoring the historic church, Harlan said he is glad to be able to add to the aesthetics of downtown Jackson by restoring the building. Graham agreed. "Some of the way they mixed in the exposed brick and painted the area with a good combination of colors was wonderful," he said. "It's great what Jonathan is doing with restoring an old building in downtown Jackson." Visit talkback.jacksonsun.com and share your thoughts. Ned Hunter, 425-9641 It took: * 15,000 square feet of carpet. * 600 gallons of paint. * A new roof. * A new central heating and air system. * A new slate floor. * New lighting fixtures. * Sand blasting equipment. * New insulation. * and more than $1 million to renovate the historic, former Cumberland Presbyterian Church. owner Jonathan Harlan What to Know * Jonathan Harlan owns Aeneas Internet and Telephone. * He purchased the former church in August 2003, after his headquarters was destroyed in the May 2003 tornadoes. * He, his father, his wife and eight other men worked two years to restore the entire former church. * They found old food in refrigerators, wedding dresses and other items that had been left behind. * Workers had to sweep nearly two feet of water out of the basement. * The solid oak doors leading to the former sanctuary are from a home built in 1870. * The original stained-glass windows are in the new Cumberland Presbyterian Church. * The new church is located at 1730 U.S. 45 Bypass.
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