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12/20/13 9:51 AM
February 4, 2014
COMMUNITY
Current in Noblesville
www.currentnoblesville.com
Brad Dahlager opens new healthcare practice in Dr. James Dillon’s former office
The hand carved mantle which surrounds the fireplace which has been upgraded to natural gas. (Photos by Robert Herrington)
By Robert Herrington • robert@youarecurrent.com Brad Dahlager has been in Noblesville only since October, but the new business owner and healthcare provider feels deeply connected cover story with the community. In addition to creating a chiropractic practice, Dahlager and wife, Nathalie, are “carrying the torch” of preserving the historic home of the late Dr. James A. Dillon at 953 Maple Ave. “I felt I had his ghost looking over my shoulder making sure I was doing things right,” Dahlager said. Dillon, who died in 1989, was a longtime physician in Noblesville and served on the Noblesville Parks and Recreation Board for almost 40 years. When the town needed a doctor, Dillon came from Iowa with $5 in his pocket. “He served the community faithfully for 50 years and had a major impact on healthcare,” Dahlager said. “We want to continue that kind of service he provided Noblesville.” After being a chiropractor for 23 years and owning a private practice in Chicago, Dahlager said he thought it made sense to scale things down. He decided to open up a new practice in a city where the pace was a little slower. “It was doing very, very well. It was almost too much to see the volume of patients,” he said. Dahlager sold his practice and put his family’s home on the market; it ended up selling in a weekend. “We didn’t have a practice or a home. We didn’t know where we would go,” he said, adding that his ideal location was a place like Mayberry. “When you look at Noblesville, you see it is a lot like Mayberry – lot of character, high ethics and morals. It’s a really good community.” Before Noblesville Family Chiropractic settled in downtown Noblesville, the Dahlagers looked at places in Fishers, Carmel and other Indianapolis-area cities. Close
The knob-and-tube fuse box
The practice Many people see a chiropractor for chronic pain, so the chiropractor can find the cause of the problem. Noblesville Family Chiropractic’s Brad Dahlager said chiropractors treat the cause of the problem instead of just providing a temporary fix and search for what patients can change in their lifestyle to Brad Dahlager help create overall health and wellness. Dahlager decided to pursue a chiropractic career when he realized that he loved to help people. “I still remember the moment when I decided to become a chiropractor. I was young and successful and making a great living as manager of a printing company, but I felt that my life had little purpose or meaning. I simply wasn’t giving back,” he said. “One day I was grocery shopping and deep in thought about how I could make a contribution to the world when I noticed an older woman hobbling along pushing her cart. Her right foot was wrapped in bandages and plastic. I saw how much she hurt and I found myself wishing, ‘If only I could wrap my hands around her injured foot and help speed the healing of those tissues.’ At that moment, as I realized how much I cared about a total stranger, I suddenly found my purpose; I felt called to go into health care and, having grown up with chiropractic care, choosing to become a chiropractor was a natural decision.” Noblesville Family Chiropractic, 953 Maple Ave., is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 8 to 10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. It is closed on the weekends. To schedule an appointment, call 214-7218.
Recessed wooden bookcases remains flush to the walls and accent points in a room
to giving up on finding a place, Dahlager lucked into finding the building, which had sat on the market for a year, while driving on 10th Street. “I believe God was holding it for us,” he said. “I knew immediately this was the right spot for us.” Although he is still trying to find out more about the building, Dahlager said one of the carpenters for the Conner family built the home in 1905. When Dillon first owned the house, he rented the two back rooms to sisters to bring in income. “I’ve always liked old buildings,” he said. “The insistence on quality, you can’t get today or get that easily. The craftsmanship and work it took to create that – the attention to detail to make sure everything was just right.” Dahlager said his parents were antique collectors and he hates “to see anything older tossed aside because it’s older. “Those are worth preserving and passing long. You can’t go and buy this anywhere,” he said. “I put a level on a window and it’s still level 109 years later.” The house has received a few upgrades such as converting to a working gas fireplace, but Dahlager’s intention and goal is to restore the building to its original state with antique salvage and period-correct furnishings. “We’re finding the right materials little by little,” he said, adding that one patient commented on his office bookcase and noted it looks like the one Dillon had in his office. Although disconnected, the old cast-iron radiators and knob-and-tub fuse box remain, along with all the original woodwork, cabinetry and flooring, which has an inlay of oak, maple and mahogany. Dahlager also is looking into getting a bronze plaque placed onto the building recognizing at as the old Dillon office. “I’m going to stay on that because he deserves that honor,” he said. (Anna Skinner assisted with writing this story.)
“The insistence on quality, you can’t get today or get that easily. The craftsmanship and work it took to create that – the attention to detail to make sure everything was just right.” - Brad Dahlager
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