The construction for the new Hyatt Place hotel in Eagle Village is underway, with the demolition of the vacant store fronts next to the Giant Food grocery store. The demolition process has been closely monitored by the UMW Foundation, who own the Eagle Village shopping center, to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
The cupola was salvaged from Eagle Village before building demolition.
“We always recycle as much as we can,” said Jeff Rountree, UMW Foundation CEO. “Back when Eagle Landing was built the demolition material was recycled. We take responsibility for our buildings.”
A majority of the debris from the demolition, including steel, metal and concrete has been recycled by the Foundation. In addition to recycling parts of the demolished building, the Foundation also saved the cupola, the small, dome-like structure that resided on top of the original shopping center.
“We tried to find a use for the cupola because it looked in good shape,” said Rountree. “It was a feature of the building and worth trying to save.”
“The day before demolition a minister called me and asked if it could be used as a steeple for their church,” said Rountree. “In another 10 hours and it would have been demolished. It was almost like divine intervention.”
After the Rev. Ronnie Ford contacted the Foundation the cupola was salvaged and donated to The Charity Church of God in Stafford. The piece from the original 1962 building now resides on top of the church.
Following demolition, the new Hyatt hotel will be built with many sustainable and energy efficient practices in place including water conserving plumbing and energy efficient light bulbs. The hotel will also be smoke-free to increase air quality and have limited exterior lighting to reduce the amount of light pollution. The 93-room hotel is expected to open at the end of 2013.
Photos of the cupola at its new home can be found in an article from the Sept. 13 issue of The Free Lance-Star: Cupola from demolished portion of Eagle Village lives on
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