Darrwood Building

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Headlines read “DOVER BUILDING RISES FROM ASHES TO CLAIM AWARD”.

On the Thanksgiving weekend of 1996, the Darrwood Building burned to the ground in a consuming fire. The goal in reconstruction was to rebuild the building into an economically viable downtown corner store to take full advantage of its prominent location.

A major difficulty was the irregular shape of the building which is bound by two non-perpendicular streets and the railroad tracks behind the building. Careful coordination with the structural engineer and surveyor was critical in making the new structure fit the old foundation.

This renovation exemplified the on-going rebirth of Dover and it received the first Award for Excellence by Downtown New Jersey in 2001 for a Main Street Commercial Renovation. The building, which was originally constructed in 1911, stands on a corner lot of two main streets and is fully occupied today.