Construction has gone on for almost a year at the corner ofWhitworth Avenue and West Cherokee Street on the old StormBuilding, and its owner said it will continue until the building isrestored to the shape it was in when it was constructed in1867.

The Storm Building is Brookhaven’s oldest brick building,according to the National Register of Historic Places.

Owner Hal Samuels said its restoration is important to hisfamily not only for the merit of the building, but because theyhave lived in Brookhaven for five generations. They want to be apositive force in the progress of the city they love, he said.

“My dad purchased this building back in 1975,” he said. “We feltfixing it up is part of what we need to do to help build updowntown Brookhaven and keep it a historic retail district. We feellike its being right next to the Brookhaven sign means we need tomake sure it stands for a long time.”

The downstairs portion of the building currently houses Hodges’Men’s Store, Smith Jewelers and Ole Brook Optical. Samuels said abig part of the building’s renovation is to make the 3,700-squarefoot upstairs area suitable for offices to move in.

“In the upstairs, but even in the downstairs, we’re talkingabout wood floors and a tin ceiling,” he said. “This was originallya hardware and mercantile store, and we want to bring back that oldstyle, and old look.”

Samuels referred to the current renovation as phase one, sayingit’s taken as long as it has because he doesn’t want to take anyshortcuts in restoring the building to its original strength. Astructural engineer was even brought in from Mobile, Ala., to makecertain the building was sound in case of another major naturalevent on the scale of Hurricane Katrina.

“We’re structurally securing the building,” he said. “We startedlast July appraising the structure of the building, and we’rereplacing joists and rafter beams, fixing the places where it hassettled. We just want to make sure everything is stabilized.”

When phase two starts, which Samuels estimated could be aroundthe middle of the summer, he will take cues from the NationalRegister of Historic Places. Restoring it to the original look in1867 is the Samuels family’s way of contributing to the downtownrestoration project the city is currently pursuing.

“The main reason we took this project on is because this townmeans so much to us,” Samuels said. “We want to preserve thisbuilding from falling down, because it’s the oldest retail buildingin town.”

The position of the building is also key, Samuels said, as it ispositioned next to the “Homeseeker’s Paradise” sign – as well asbeing in full view of passing trains on the railroad tracks.

“We’re the building right next to the sign,” he said. “Peoplecan look out of the train and see that sign and realize the qualityof life we have here from the way our downtown looks. We haven’tsold out to the new way of living with the shopping centers andstrip malls, but the people of Brookhaven have kept its historyalive.”

Samuels said he’s not certain how long it will take the HistoricRegistry to advise him of their qualifications, but it could bemonths in the works.

“I hope the city will bear with us for just a little while,” hesaid.