Harvesting history - An architectural salvager...

  By Jennifer Schmidt - Give Jeff Nelson his tools and an old church, barn or commercial building, and you’ll find him in his element.
  Even aging, dilapidated, soon to-be-demolished buildings have hidden gems — 100-year-old hardwood floors or “killer” beveled doors, for example — that Nelson can’t wait to uncover.
  “Sometimes, if we’ve got something really fun, I can’t wait to go to bed at night to get up in the morning and get going,” said Nelson, 61, of Eau Claire.  Read the Full Story...

Story provided by:  Leader-Telegram  located in Eau Claire, WI 54701

Antique Explorer - local carpenter saves our architectural history...

  By Bridget Kurtenbach - If there were a place where old homes and buildings would go for reincarnation, Dell’s Architectural Antiques would be that place and Jeff Nelson would be their Buddha.
  Nelson, a carpenter and preservationist for 35 years, saves the “guts” of historical homes and buildings before they are demolished. Sometimes that means being up until the wee hours of the morning to get everything salvageable out of a place. It also means lots of nights and weekends.
  In the past 10 weeks, Nelson and his crew have salvaged items from five downtown Eau Claire buildings near Phoenix Park, two log cabins, a Queen Anne Victorian in Eleva, and a church. Many of the homes and buildings taken down were outside of Eau Claire.  Read the Full Story...

Story provided by:  VolumeOne  located in Eau Claire, WI 54701