By Bob Peters (City of Cornwall Economic Development)
Cornwall Ontario – One of the City’s oldest businesses is about to move into a new home.
Bourgon Construction is putting the finishing touches on its new home in the Cornwall Business Park. The new facility is located at 3306 Second Street East and has approximately 2,500 sq.ft. of office space and 4,500 sq.ft. of warehouse space.
“We have outgrown our current offices and wanted to consolidate our operations into one new, efficient facility,” says Chris Markell, owner of Bourgon Construction.
“It was also getting hard to find anything in our warehouse, which has been ‘acquiring’ tools and materials since the late ‘70s. The affordable land and favourable zoning in the City’s Business Park made it a stand-out option for us.”
Mr. Markell recently completed the purchase of the company from his father, long-time Cornwall builder Dick Markell. The company was started in 1958 by Robert J. Bourgon, Chris’s grandfather, and for over 30 years has been headquartered at 600 Glengarry Blvd with a warehouse on Marleau Avenue.
The new building is an attractive addition to the Business Park. The main structure and the site layout was designed by Mr. Markell and his wife and partner Sophie Jean, with architectural assistance from Colbourne & Kembel Architects, interior design help from Jennifer Renwick, and of course a lot of helpful input from staff.
“Our goal was to build a unique building that would spark some interest in design and construction in the community,” says Chris. “We also wanted to use the new building to showcase some new, very efficient products.”
One such innovative feature is the use of 6″ thick insulated metal panel (IMP) roofing, which is a first for Eastern Ontario. The panels assemble into a roof with clean lines, are exceptionally weather-tight and offer pre-finished interior surfaces and an R-value over 50. Similar panels are used on the warehouse walls.
“We believe these state-of-the-art panels represent the future of industrial construction and wanted to provide a working example for our clients to visit.”
Mr. Markell feels that having a purpose-built building will offer his company greater visibility and will also improve his business.
“Having all of our operations under one roof will cut costs and allow office and tradespeople to interact more often,” says Mr. Markell. “Our location is very visible in an area of the city that is growing, and the building itself will help showcase our capabilities to new developers.”
Mr. Markell re-branded the company this year with a new logo and slogan: ‘Building Better. Together.’
“I think we’ve realized that “why” we do what we do is as important as “what” we do. We love building things well, and love tackling challenging projects.”
Mr. Markell and his staff move into the new building this month.
About Bourgon Construction
Bourgon Construction specializes in commercial and industrial work. The company has completed a number of high-profile buildings throughout Cornwall and Eastern Ontario, including the new Discovery Centre at Upper Canada Village, the new toll building in Cornwall, a three-storey addition and historic restoration at the new South Dundas municipal centre and medical clinic in Morrisburg and a 41-unit, five-storey apartment building in Orleans. The company also has a number of significant design-build projects starting this fall, including a new transportation servicing and warehousing facilities in Cornwall and Brockville, the Eastern Ontario Healthy Unit’s new medical clinic in Casselman, the Dominion Place condominium project in downtown Cornwall, and others.
More info can be found online: www.rjbourgon.com
