A Piece of Cleveland... and Much More Than That
Quartet of Furniture-making Muskateers Deconstructs, Reclaims

Far from behaving wooden themselves, the four guys who make up A Piece of Cleveland display non-stop esprit de corps while they build their professional careers out of reclaimed, top-quality wood. They are like a lively band of musketeers, only this time, instead of saving the poor downtrodden peasant from the greedy king, they are saving good wood from demolition. Meet the wood rescuers: PJ Doran (42), Aaron Gogolin (30), Chris Kious (35), and Ezra Taxel (30), the four principals who have formed a new company called A Piece of Cleveland (APOC).

Three of these fellows were born in Cleveland, and Kious moved here as a young boy. They are all ardent supporters of the city. Before teaming up with Taxel and Kious, Doran and Gogolin each had their own woodworking businesses. Kious continues to maintain his job as the housing services manager for the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation while also heading up APOC’s effort to scout and acquire its materials in his spare time.

Believing in the “deconstruction” model, Kious finds old structures condemned to demolition and makes arrangements with the owners to retrieve the salvageable wood and metals from these deteriorating buildings. The reclaimed materials are brought back to APOC's 7,000 square-foot studio, filled with shelving, table saws, sanders, and planers, in the Tyler Elevator Complex at East 36th Street. The wood is de-nailed and grouped by locations, and awaits later planing, sanding, and design.

In the heart of the city, Cleveland abounds with houses, schools, and shop buildings that were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th-centuries. This was a time when builders used first-growth lumber and good quality solid wood like maple, cherry, and oak to construct flooring, doors, trim, and framing. “It is hard to find this quality wood now,” says Taxel, a furniture designer (M.F.A. 2006 from Savannah College of Art and Design). Due to the increased interest in sustainability and recycling materials to keep them out of the landfills, wood reclaiming strategies have been developed, called deconstruction, where it is more beneficial to salvage and reuse wood. City governments and demolition contractors are now contacting APOC before they go in to demolish the old structures for the developers who are building new multi-use structures, townhouses, and retail space there.

“Our company has grown organically based on demand.” says Taxel, “When we go in to a building, we love to learn stories about its history, and we figure other people will want to know them as well. So each project and piece we design and fabricate has a ‘Re-Birth Certificate’ detailing and authenticating where the wood came from and telling some of the stories that we learned. For me, APOC is the perfect confluence of my passions for design, art, and everything sustainable. I love saving this good wood from the landfill and ‘upcycling’ the lumber into high quality, long lasting products,” he adds.

APOC recently completed a $15,000 conference table out of reclaimed wood and metal, 20 feet long and 6 feet wide, for thunder::tech, a Cleveland web design and marketing agency. APOC products are commissioned by private clients or sold retail at Planet Green in Rocky River. Visit them online at http://www.apieceofcleveland.com for more information.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul susn1ATatt.net
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