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June 4, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 18, 2004 Paddington Station open again By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings A piece of Ashland history reopened Monday after four months of extensive renovation work. Paddington Station, a gift store that has been located in downtown for more than 30 years, closed in January for renovations to the store's 100-year-old location, the J. P. Dodge Building at 125 East Main Street. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings J. Thompson puts a touch of paint onto Paddington Station's window display as doors opened to the remodeled store Monday. As customers mingled about the 8,300 square feet of space Monday afternoon, painters performed finishing touches to the old Welsh cottage located in front, completing a project that has been in the works for a long time. After 100 years, the building definitely needed some touch-ups, said Pam and Don Hammond, who have owned the store for 11 years. Needed work The structure was retrofitted to be earthquake proof and the air conditioning and lighting were completely replaced. The old air conditioning system didn't work too well, especially in the summer months. "The heat would rise upstairs and it would be 10 degrees hotter," Pam Hammond said. Portions of the building were also updated to be handicapped accessible, such as the bathroom and a dressing room. In the upstairs portion, a new kitchen was installed so the store can do demonstrations of kitchen products. The stairs, banisters, floors, and ceilings were renovated. The majority of the wood flooring is original, with only some replaced due to rot and age. Approximately 98 percent of the ceiling is original as well. The carpeting that covered a portion of the store was removed to reveal the original wood housed underneath. This was not the only discovery made as two small portions of linoleum were discovered. One portion was from the 1920s and another from the early 1900s, Pam Hammond said. "I thought it was important to retain this part of the buildings history," she said. "We learn from our past." The renovations were done because "basically, we wanted the building to keep its soul, but to keep up with the present as well," Pam Hammond said. The Hammonds said the cost of the work was "substantial" but declined to give an exact figure. A piece of history The J.P. Dodge Building first housed the Dodge Furniture store, the Southern Oregon Historical Society said. When it first opened, it was the only building that far east from the downtown Plaza. The consensus in Ashland was the structure was too far away from the hub of town and the store would be a failure. The skeptics were wrong as the building housed the furniture store for many years. Besides the furniture business, the Dodge family also made caskets in the basement, eventually converting the space into a mortuary. While the current renovations occurred, the merchandise as well as the store's 12 employees moved to temporary quarters at the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford. The move to the Ashland location began in earnest last Monday, as employees worked to get Paddington Station ready for business. On the last three nights before Paddington Station reopened, Pam Hammond was at the store until 1 a.m. "We worked diligently night and day to get it ready," she said. " Looking back, it's amazing what we were able to do in seven days." Customers and nearby business have been asking when the store would reopen, Don Hammond said. "It feels great to know that we were missed," he said. Looking at all the work done to the building, the Hammonds feel a sense of accomplishment along with the historians, architects, construction workers and employees who made the renovation a reality. "I feel fortunate to be curator of this building," Pam Hammond said. "I'm happy to be finished and I hope we don't have to do this for another 100 years." The store is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday and Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams