Maple Leaf Representative Talks At Leesburg
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Brittney Elkins-
Scott Tucker, one of the owners of Maple Leaf Farms, spoke first about the company’s upcoming move to Leesburg.
“I want to thank the town for supporting the project. Hopefully the town will see it as a positive thing for the community,” he said.
Maple Leaf Farms recently bought the former Leesburg Elementary School building. The company will move its world headquarters there as soon as October, but not before making several renovations to the interior and exterior of the building.
Tucker then introduced Christopher Stine. Stine is an architectural design expert from Design Collaborative in Fort Wayne. Stine presented designs for both the interior and exterior of the building.
“We’re very early in the preliminary process,” Stine said.
Stine described several projects that Maple Leaf hopes to complete. He referred to the plans as a “wish list” and said that some things may be changed or cut if the project seems to be going over budget.
Plans for outside the building include cleaning up the landscape along the street, turning the current bus drop-off on Church Street back into green space, and constructing signage.
“We want to give the building a facelift for lack of a better word,” Stine said. “We want to get it to look less like a school so it looks better for Maple Leaf and the community.”
Inside, the building will hardly be recognizable.
“The bathrooms will be in the same place, and of course, we’ll make some upgrades there. But if you know the interior, that is all you will recognize – where the bathrooms are located,” Stine joked.
Currently, the gymnasium will be left as it is. The rest of the space will be turned mostly into office space and board rooms. Stine speculated that the building will be 40 to 60 percent hard wall offices, but they are trying to achieve more open office space.
An interior courtyard will be kept as a place that everyone can use to get away and step outside. It will also provide natural light in the offices.
The current cafeteria will be used for the Maple Leaf store, which the company hopes to keep open to the public at least five days a week.
“It looks like you plan to re-use the space well,” Board President Tom Moore said.
“We are still trying to maintain space for growth in years to come,” Tucker said in reference to the gymnasium.
“The town is pleased. This is more than we could have dreamed for. We all hoped for a well-established business to buy the building, but we’re pleased to have you who have been part of the community for years,” board member Doug Jones said.
The presentation concluded with applause from the community members present at the building.
“Our desire is to try to occupy the building in the first half of October. That may be a push, but I’m really confident that we’ll be able to do that. Once we get in, we’ll have an open house for the entire community,” Tucker said. “We appreciate all the support we’ve received through this.”
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Scott Tucker, one of the owners of Maple Leaf Farms, spoke first about the company’s upcoming move to Leesburg.
“I want to thank the town for supporting the project. Hopefully the town will see it as a positive thing for the community,” he said.
Maple Leaf Farms recently bought the former Leesburg Elementary School building. The company will move its world headquarters there as soon as October, but not before making several renovations to the interior and exterior of the building.
Tucker then introduced Christopher Stine. Stine is an architectural design expert from Design Collaborative in Fort Wayne. Stine presented designs for both the interior and exterior of the building.
“We’re very early in the preliminary process,” Stine said.
Stine described several projects that Maple Leaf hopes to complete. He referred to the plans as a “wish list” and said that some things may be changed or cut if the project seems to be going over budget.
Plans for outside the building include cleaning up the landscape along the street, turning the current bus drop-off on Church Street back into green space, and constructing signage.
“We want to give the building a facelift for lack of a better word,” Stine said. “We want to get it to look less like a school so it looks better for Maple Leaf and the community.”
Inside, the building will hardly be recognizable.
“The bathrooms will be in the same place, and of course, we’ll make some upgrades there. But if you know the interior, that is all you will recognize – where the bathrooms are located,” Stine joked.
Currently, the gymnasium will be left as it is. The rest of the space will be turned mostly into office space and board rooms. Stine speculated that the building will be 40 to 60 percent hard wall offices, but they are trying to achieve more open office space.
An interior courtyard will be kept as a place that everyone can use to get away and step outside. It will also provide natural light in the offices.
The current cafeteria will be used for the Maple Leaf store, which the company hopes to keep open to the public at least five days a week.
“It looks like you plan to re-use the space well,” Board President Tom Moore said.
“We are still trying to maintain space for growth in years to come,” Tucker said in reference to the gymnasium.
“The town is pleased. This is more than we could have dreamed for. We all hoped for a well-established business to buy the building, but we’re pleased to have you who have been part of the community for years,” board member Doug Jones said.
The presentation concluded with applause from the community members present at the building.
“Our desire is to try to occupy the building in the first half of October. That may be a push, but I’m really confident that we’ll be able to do that. Once we get in, we’ll have an open house for the entire community,” Tucker said. “We appreciate all the support we’ve received through this.”
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