PROGRESS: Siouxland Chamber moves back into renovated headquarters

It was the sort of look very much in vogue when the Chamber dedicated its new office building in April, 1969. At the time, the building was declared to be the city's "front door to the world." 

Over the last few years, however, the Chamber came to feel that the old "front door" needed an update. The squat brick and concrete building, Chamber President Chris McGowan said, wasn't representing the Chamber as it should have. 

"It was dated. When we host a company that's looking at coming to our community, we wanted offices that reflected a contemporary, progressive feel," McGowan said.

Morgan was a major proponent of updating the building; he frequently opted to host prospective businesses off-site, McGowan said, rather than bringing them to the Chamber's offices. 

In July 2018, Chamber employees moved to the Pioneer Bank Building, 701 Pierce St., while the Chamber building underwent extensive renovations. In late August of last year, Chamber staffers began moving back. 

There had been talks of scrapping the 50-year-old office building altogether to build something entirely new, McGowan said, but in the end they decided to keep the old structure. It was found to be quite sound structurally, and it already has a basement, which modern commercial buildings often lack.

In the end, the Chamber decided to overhaul the aging space rather than demolish it. 

PLaN Architecture, in conjunction with general contractor Brown Wegher Construction, did a top-to-bottom renovation, tearing out everything down to the structure's concrete bones. The building now boasts chic glass-enveloped private offices, glass-walled conference rooms, fresh carpet, modern furniture, and ceilings with exposed HVAC and structural elements. 

Glass seems to have replaced brick as the key design element in the building -- much of the structure is enveloped in glass, with trendy aluminum slats. And all that glass provides an abundance of natural light. 

"That's the thing I think you notice right when you walk in, how light it feels, it feels open and alive. You feel a real positive vibe I think when you walk in," said Barbara Sloniker, the Chamber's executive vice president. Sloniker worked with the architects on the interior design and layout. 

The back side of the building, facing the Tyson Events Center, retains the original exterior, and bits of the old exterior are visible through the building's glass envelope on the other sides. 

The parking lot was redone in such a way that semi trucks can access the Tyson Events Center without issue, and an elevator was added to make the basement and the main floor more accessible to visitors with mobility issues. 

McGowan declined to say how much the renovations cost, but stressed that Chamber officials aimed to be as fiscally responsible as possible. 

The Chamber plans to use the building's longtime address -- 101 Pierce St. -- in their marketing. The building itself advertises this with an oversize "101" on the exterior facing Pierce Street traffic. 

"That'll become the central brand of the organization," McGowan said. "It's kind of like when you think about 'Chemistry 101,' 'Economics 101,' we want to make sure that we provide the foundation for the business community."