Tuesday, October 6th, 2020
Firm to renovate Casad building
By William Kincaid
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
The architecture firm Fanning Howey has purchased and plans to renovate the former Casad building on East Market Street in Celina.
CELINA - Fanning Howey officials plan to renovate and move the company's Celina operations to the former Casad building at 128 W. Market St., which it recently purchased, according to executive director Steve Wilczynski.
The 9,244-square-foot Casad building will be converted into a "modern design studio" for Fanning Howey, an integrated architecture, interiors and engineering firm whose current Celina office is located at 540 E. Market St.
Noting that next year marks the firm's 60th anniversary, Wilczynski said 2021 will be "the perfect time to renew our commitment to the place our firm began."
The company's first office opened in Celina in 1961. Today, it has offices in Celina, Dublin and Indianapolis, with roughly 95 total employees.
"We've always wanted to stay in Celina, and we knew that at the end of 2021 we had to make a decision on whether we stayed in our current facility or look for a different (place)," Wilczynski said. "We saw that (former Casad building) was on the market, and it just looked like a perfect location."
Officials aim to renovate the former Casad building in the spring and relocate its 34 Celina-based employees by the end of 2021.
"Renovations will create a modern design studio complete with flexible workstations, multiple design labs and state-of-the-art visualization tools," a news release states.
The owners of the current Celina office space are looking into selling or repurposing the building, Wilczynski said. The property is owned by F/H Building Partnership, according to Mercer County online documents.
Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel welcomed news of the firm's announcement.
"We are thrilled that Fanning and Howey staff have decided to make a move. I understand they've been renting within a facility for several years," Hazel told the newspaper.
Fanning Howey's plans to move into the former Casad building is definitely a win for the downtown and Celina, Hazel said.
"I think we've got a great downtown as it continues to grow. Certainly we love seeing buildings downtown filled," he continued.
