3/19/04

Historic Wood Salvaged in Addition to Brick Structure
Public Safety Officers Build Conference Table and More From Original Wood in Historic Building

When the building that was to become the new Holly Springs police station was renovated, the entire structure was gutted. Only the outer shell of bricks of Holly Springs ' oldest commercial building remained standing. But, some of the original wood from the building's interior was salvaged, as well – and in a unique fashion.

Assistant Police Chief John Herring and Public Safety Investigator Erik Hrin used the wood to build a conference table and three bookcases. In addition, the interior wood posts that originally ran from floor to roof were sanded, refinished and repositioned in the renovated building. But, among the projects completed by Public Safety staff members, the conference table takes center stage.

The large wood table is centered in the station's upstairs conference room. Long enough to seat about ten people, the sides of the table are arched. The table's planked top has a glossy finish that glistens in the light from a nearby window. With a yellow hue, the wood looks fresh. But, it was cut nearly a century ago.

“We actually have a piece of the old building here that's serving a function,” Herring said. “What was once serving a purpose to hold the walls up is now a piece of furniture.”

When the wood was pulled out of the building during the renovation, most of it was to be discarded, but when Herring noticed that the wood was heart pine, he collected it and saved it in his residential woodworking shop. Clint Johnson, father of the Holly Springs firefighter of the same name, planed the wood, shaving off the faded and worn exterior surface to reveal the grain beneath. It was then that Herring learned that the wood was old growth longleaf heart pine – and very valuable. The wood salvaged from the building that fashioned the conference table alone was valued at about $1,200.

Used for a variety of purposes including ship, bridge and cabin building, old growth longleaf heart pine was logged heavily through the early 1900s. The heart pine forests, which once comprised nearly 41% of the landscape along the eastern seaboard – 90 million acres – were timbered to extinction by 1915. Because the tree takes 500 years to mature, old growth longleaf heart pine is expensive and rare.

After the wood was planed, Herring took it to a mill shop in Zebulon that cut the wood into boards that ranged in length from 7 to 10 feet. Herring then took the wood to his shop where the rest of the work was completed with the help of Hrin.

First, the boards for the table were hand-selected. The boards were joined and glued together to make the tabletop and then cut into the finished shape and banded together using a laminate process. The table legs, which were also cut from the original wood stock, were then shaped and joined with the tabletop.

“There was a lot of craftsmanship in it,” Herring said. “It was kind of like a big jigsaw puzzle.”

In all, the table took about one week to assemble, with Herring and Hrin working full-time on it together and spending only $500 in supplies.

Herring also built three bookcases from the original wood and fitted them to the space where the windows that used to be on the rear of the original building now open into the enclosed elevator shaft of the add-on section of the renovated structure.

The original wood posts, which Herring, Hrin and Police Officer Brian Lischin sanded and refinished, stand as sturdy as ever in the renovated building, enhancing the building's aesthetics.

“This building has character,” Herring said. “We've preserved a piece of history.”

Herring is planning on using more of the original wood to build a wall separating a line of officer work stations from the main upstairs room. Herring then will fashion any leftover wood into employee drop-boxes.

In addition to Herring's work, some of the original wood from the building was used as hardwood floors on the second level.

Herring, who has served on the Holly Springs police force for 10 years, has about 20 years of experience in carpentry. He began working with wood in high school and later worked for a general contractor. Now, carpentry is his side business. He began building furniture five years ago.

“This is my passion,” he said. “I've given up playing golf now completely.”

Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us