Stop, Collaborate and Listen Renovations allow space for community collaboration

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Renovations allow space for community collaboration

By Juliana Colant

Photos courtesy of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce

With age comes wear and tear. For the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, decades of wear and tear called for a makeover in the form of an office renovation. More than just a facelift, the chamber update modernizes its technology and gathering areas.

A main goal of the project, which began in August 2021, is to provide more opportunities for collaboration and growth among business professionals, particularly emerging leaders.

“The chamber of commerce is a great resource for the business community,” says Jennifer Amorose, chief operating officer at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. “(It’s) a great way for young business professionals to meet and gather at a place that is still business-oriented.”

Over the past two years, having a space to work outside of the home has become more important. Amorose says the chamber recognizes that shift and hopes the space can serve as an alternative option for those working from home or just hoping to escape their cubicle at work for a few hours.

The renovated chamber will include a cafe-style gathering space for chamber members to use for meetings or work.

“There are daily distractions while working from home, along with loneliness from little human interaction,” Amorose says. “We will provide the opportunity to gather and brainstorm in a collaborative environment. It can be hard to be creative when in a spare bedroom working on a laptop.”

In addition to that space, planned renovations include three additional conference rooms, new offices and an informational corner highlighting Dublin businesses. The updated building will have complimentary Wi-Fi and large-screen TVs for projecting presentations and sharing videos. Those technological upgrades will allow for expanded educational programming. “The renovations will give space for educational programming for business community experts in specialized areas such as accounting and marketing,” Amorose says. Along with modern updates comes the preservation of Dublin’s past. During construction, the chamber came across unexpected architecture dating back to 1967, when the space was used for administrative purposes after the Village of Dublin purchased it.

“We discovered the room right on High Street was the original town hall,” Amorose says.

During renovations, the ceiling panels were taken down, revealing a high cathedral ceiling with tree trunk wood beams in that room. In the updated chamber, that will serve as a conference space so community members can enjoy the beautiful, original architecture.

“We worked with officials for people to see the history,” Amorose says. “It allows people to reflect on where Dublin has been.”

The chamber expects renovations to be completed by St. Patrick’s Day.

Bill Andrews of Andrews Architects and Jennifer Amorose, COO of the Dublin Chamber, removing a wall to construct a new kitchen within the chamber’s community room. Dublin’s town hall building. When the dropped ceilings were removed, a plaster ceiling was exposed. While upgrading the lighting, heating and cooling, the plaster ceiling was removed, and the wooden logs and chimney were discovered.