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At the corner of Patton Street and North Union Street in the River District of Danville, Virginia, sits a stately building that housed the Danville Bee newspaper from 1921 to the 1970s. Today that location is an upscale boutique hotel with a beautiful rooftop veranda that features an ActivWall Folding Door.
After the press moved to a larger, more modern location in the ’70s, the Danville Bee merged with the Danville Register to become known today as the Danville Register & Bee. The grand stone building stood vacant for more than 40 years until it caught the attention of Ed Walker, a developer from Roanoke, Virginia, who had an incredible vision in mind. Ed and his team bought the building in 2018 and began restoring it.
In November of 2020, Marshall Hotels & Resorts opened The Bee, a 47-suite urban boutique-style hotel that tastefully blends high style and history for business travelers and vacationers to enjoy.
The developers, architects, and designers involved preserved as much of the historic property as possible by incorporating the elaborate portico, original wood floors, an original spiral staircase, and historical photographs into their designs for the boutique hotel.
Rooms at The Bee have modern amenities and take their cues from the style pages. They feature sleek contemporary furnishings, warm wood finishes, rich textures, and a dash of shimmer.
The undeveloped rooftop of the building at this location presented an opportunity to add a unique feature to The Bee – a rooftop suite and veranda. The veranda offers entertaining space and scenic views of Danville’s thriving River District.
Working with the staff at Piedmont Glass, who handled all of the property’s commercial aluminum windows and doors, ActivWall designed and manufactured a custom six-panel Folding Door to fit a 195″ wide by 86″ high opening between the suite and veranda.
The design of the ActivWall Folding system allows it to be used as a single outswing door, a set of double outswing doors, or you can open all the panels for full access to the suite.
Roger Adkins and Jason Doak of Piedmont Glass had previously heard of ActivWall products from a fellow contractor. They took a tour of the Martinsville, Virginia, production facility to learn more.
Later, when Roger and Jason learned that The Bee’s developers were interested in a folding door unit for this project, they knew exactly where to turn for a high-quality, American-made product.
The custom ActivWall door designed for The Bee is made of thermally broken aluminum in a black powder-coat finish with insulated Low E gray-tinted glass and a saddle sill.
According to Roger, “Our experience with ActivWall was great. The sales team was very knowledgable about the products, and the installation team was very professional.” He added, “when the unit arrived, it fit perfectly, so we were very pleased with the whole process.”
Since completing this project, Piedmont Glass has become an authorized ActivWall Dealer.
Carter Ferrell, VP of Engineering for ActivWall, said, “It was a pleasure to be part of the revitalization effort for this beautiful building, and we look forward to working with Piedmont Glass on additional projects in the future.”
Acknowledgments:
Story by Jennifer Doss. Historical information provided by The Bee Hotel and the Danville Register & Bee. Project partner: Piedmont Glass.
