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Surmounting Fire Code & Historic Use Restrictions: Adapting Historic Properties for Best Use
Sponsored by Downtown Elkhart Inc. & Downtown Goshen Inc.

Presentation: 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. | Lunch: Noon to 1 p.m. | Consultations: 10-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m.

Focus: Adaptive reuse scenarios for pre-1940 commercial buildings in downtown areas.
– Strategies for change of use: from non-residential (industrial, office, institutional) to residential use
– New commercial uses for long-vacant upper floor spaces
– Required structural modifications in response to state fire codes
– Projects in Indiana that have established new precedents for historic property redevelopment

Presenter: Ed Rensink, RTM Consultants Inc, Indianapolis
Mr. Rensink has over 25 years of private sector experience in building code consulting using the various national model codes as well as the National Fire Protection Association Fire Codes. He has served as code consultant for a diverse range of projects involving nearly every type of building use.

Mr. Rensink has also developed numerous building code training programs for Architects, Engineers, and other clients, which he conducts throughout the State of Indiana. These include registered AIA/CES programs providing continuing education credits to Architects. He has also served as a faculty member in the Purdue University Building Construction Management program’s extension office in Indianapolis. He also serves on the ad hoc Indiana Building Code Committee. He is a member of the International Code Council.