Established in 1936, Brubaker Motors is a five star Chrysler and Jeep dealership located just on the outskirts of historic Lancaster City. In an effort to expand the Brubaker campus, Hershey’s gas station, built circa the 1920’s, was purchased in 1974. A series of three additions and renovations to the original gas station created a car rental facility and service area, which addressed the corner of East Liberty Street and Lititz Avenue. In the summer of 1999, Brubaker Motors decided they had outgrown their existing Used Car Sales facility. Benchmark Construction was hired to coordinate the design-build effort to renovate the 7,126 SF existing myriad of unified buildings and construct a 2,652 SF addition to create a new Used Car Sales Showroom and Service Center.

Transforming a series of four buildings, one with a different floor elevation, into a showroom and office area was no easy feat. Construction began in June 2001 with select demolition of the existing building. A skeleton structure and roof remained. Shoring of the existing structure was necessary to relocate columns, reorienting the facility to address the opposite corner of Liberty Street and Duke Street. Portions of the existing sloped concrete floor were saw-cut, removed, and reinstalled to make a level floor for the new showroom. Also, the floor had to be patched to create a gradual ramp into a portion of the building with a higher floor elevation.

Construction continued with the excavation for the addition footings. The block walls, steel bar joists and roof were installed in late August 2001. The floor elevation, wood truss roof structure, and other intricacies of the existing building limited the height for installation of automobile lifts. The addition matched the floor elevation and parapet wall height of the existing building, creating a difficult rework of the flat site to prevent water from entering the building.

The exterior insulation and finish system, aluminum/glass windows and entrances, and overhead garage doors were installed prior to the commencement of finishes. The circular ceiling design and finish selections for the showroom required creativity and concentration in construction. The owner desired an open showroom floor plan to accommodate a low pressure sales atmosphere with finishes that coordinated with the new car sales showroom located in an adjacent building. The circular ceiling and red ceramic tile accent circle in the center of the showroom created an excellent area for display of any particularly special pre-owned vehicle.

To incorporate the legacy of products once offered by Brubaker Motors and owner Geoffrey Durkota, a history wall was created on the rear wall of the showroom. A forty-foot long antique neon sign was restored and placed at the top of the wall. Historic car photos, signs from past manufactured vehicles, and even an eight foot long blue marlin, a personal prize caught by Mr. Durkota, also adorn the history wall.

With much anticipation and enthusiasm, employees moved into their shiny new facility in late November 2001. Not a tear would be witnessed as the destruction of the old sales building followed in early December. The renovation and addition to create the Used Car Sales Showroom and Service Center improved the look of and revitalized the Brubaker campus as seen from the surrounding roadways. Brubaker employees are proud to announce to everyone that their new facility is the “talk-of-the-town.”

Location: Lancaster, PA

Design Professionals: Richard Mula´ Architects

Total SF: 9,778 SF

Value: $857,000

Awards:  2002 ABC - Keystone Chapter AWARD OF MERIT

Services Provided: General Construction Services