Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

The former Blacksburg Motor Co. building will house the town's planning, building, engineering and GIS departments.

The renovation includes features from the old building, including original floor remains, stains and all for character.

Lenore Duncan, architect, designer and project manager from Spectrum Design, checks out a historic window reused in the renovation.

The building that was once home to Heavener's automotive business and dealership is now devoted to town business and the service focus remains the same.

Today marks the grand opening of the renovated building that was constructed in 1924. It will house the town's planning, building, engineering and GIS departments.

The departments are now on the third floor of the nearby Municipal Building, and the offices are expected to begin moving Tuesday.

The building's opening had been delayed twice -- once in May when heavy rains caused groundwater to seep into the basement and again in June when workers digging trenches in the basement floor to correct the flooding issue encountered strong gas vapors.

The vapors came from soil contaminated by old leaking storage tanks that remain on the site. Town officials had three tanks and tons of tainted dirt removed before starting construction.

Town officials announced last week that the work to fix both the flooding and vapor issue was complete and set a celebration to mark the opening. A sump pump has since been installed and the four trenches are used to direct any groundwater to it.

Some town officials and employees have talked this summer about their excitement in seeing the building reused and their hope that residents will be impressed by the renovations.

Betsy Heavener Owen of Blacksburg is one of the two daughters of Robert Heavener and got a glimpse inside the building a few months ago. She'll be back at the building today for the ceremony, along with sister Margaret Heavener Massie of Maryland.

"I was quite impressed that they deliberately kept everything they could from the original," Heavener Owen said.

The renovation includes features from the old building, such as a tin ceiling, doors, offices and wood floors. It also used exposed brick walls inside the building, along with pops of color on walls.

The building also includes energy-conservation technology, such as motion-sensor lights in rooms and a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Robert Heavener, who died in 1977 at age 78, was the president and dealer of Blacksburg Motor Co.. He and his brother, Mason, were partners in the motor company and a hardware business. Robert Heavener oversaw the motor company, while his brother was president of the hardware business, said Jim Owen.

"My father-in-law was really a prince of a guy," Owen said.

In addition to the automotive business, Robert Heavener was involved in the community, including serving on the town council and as a trustee of the Methodist church. He also was one of the developers of McBride Village in Blacksburg, Owen said.

Owen worked part time for his father-in-law from 1957 to 1960 and remembers the motor company as a bustling business.

"It was wonderful," he said. "The customers were just terrific and very loyal."

Blacksburg resident Harry Byrd Saville also worked at the motor company as a mechanic and later a service manager. He worked there from 1959 to 1972.

"It was a good place," Saville said. "The building, I thought, was in good shape. It was just a good place to work. It was always good to me."

He said he plans to attend the grand opening and is eager to see the inside of the building.

The town bought the building in 2007, and the project cost now stands at $5.3 million -- $1.8 million for the property and $3.5 million for renovations. Historic tax credits are expected to reduce the cost by about $1.2 million

Prior to the town use, the site also served as a gasoline and oil distribution center, radiator and glass shop, and a tire store and garage.

Heavener Owen said she is pleased with the building's renovation and believes her father would have also been impressed.

Her husband said he believes his father-in-law would be glad to see the building become a part of town hall.

"It's a monument to his memory," Owen said. "He'd just be really so pleased."

Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.