BlueEarth Deconstruction owner Steve Filyo and an employee interview a home in Naperville, Illinois on Wednesday, February 24, 2020. The company dismantles the house piece by piece in order to preserve or reuse it.
Steve Filyo, owner of BlueEarth Deconstruction, shows off a beam that appears to be cut from wood as he reviews the progress of the disassembly at a house in Naperville, Illinois on Wednesday, February 24, 2020.
The exterior of the former Massier family home in Naperville, Illinois will be shown on Wednesday, February 24, 2020.
This photo shows a log that was used in the 1910s to move a building on Water Street up Eagle Street to 321 W. Franklin Ave. in Naperville, Illinois, which was placed on the foundation of a home. The various logs used in the household have held the ground for more than 100 years.
Jennifer Reichert, Arnold Massier’s surrogate granddaughter, will tour the Massier family home in Naperville, Illinois on Wednesday, February 24, 2020. After Arnold Massier died last year, Reichert wanted parts of the historic house to be preserved instead by being sent to a landfill.
Anthony Zepeda of BlueEarth Deconstruction tears a slat off a wall at a Massier family home in Naperville, Ill. On Wednesday, February 24, 2020.
Notched wooden roof beams are shown in the former home of the Massier family in Naperville, Illinois.
A deconstruction sign for BlueEarth, which the Naperville, Illinois company is dismantling for preservation or reuse, will be posted in front of a house on February 24, 2021.
BY SUZANNE BAKER Naperville Sun.
NAPERVILLE, IL (AP) – The life of World War II hero Arnold “Arnie” Massier will be preserved in Naperville, and perhaps across the country, rather than ending up in a landfill.
When Massier died in February 2020 at the age of 97, neighbor Jennifer Reichert was executing his estate, including his house in Naperville, which is believed to date back to the late 19th century.
Reichert said that when she was about to sell the historic house, she couldn’t bear to see it demolished and taken to a dump. She contacted BlueEarth Deconstruction to disassemble it so that its contents could be preserved or reused.
BlueEarth is focused on taking apart buildings piece by piece and rescuing cabinets, windows, doors, hardwood floors, mechanical systems, appliances, lighting and plumbing fixtures, and wood from the frame, said operations manager Colleen Feeny. Often up to 90% can be salvaged and reused.
A built-in stall, the front door of the house, and all of Arnold Massier’s possessions will go to Naper Settlement and will be on display in an upcoming exhibit on World War II and future exhibits at the Naperville Historical Museum.
“This place is different from every single one. It’s built differently than any building we’ve ever seen, ”said Filyo.
As an example, Filyo points to the 3 and 4 inch lumber that the walls are made of. “It looks like it was done right where they cut the trees,” he said.
Comments are closed.