Watch above: Mark Oleniuk and Harpreet Singh from Saskatoon-based Element Project Services recently undertook an interesting project – a makeover of the original Tim Hortons store in Hamilton, Ont.
SASKATOON – A Saskatoon-based company had a major role in rebuilding Canada’s very first Tim Hortons store.
“It’s definitely a unique opportunity,” said Mark Oleniuk, managing partner with Element Project Services. “We were very honored to be involved in the project.”
Last Wednesday, Tim Hortons officially opened the reconstruction of its first store, which opened in 1964 in Hamilton.
“We worked right through from the idea stage to finishing the final product,” said Harpreet Singh, who with Oleniuk started Element Project Services just four years ago. “This is their flagship store, their number one store … they did something special here,” said Singh.
The main floor of the reconstructed store is a fairly typical Tim’s, but the upstairs section features a Memory Lane museum that is full of memorabilia from the decades of the chain’s operation, and a replica counter from the original 1964 store.
READ MORE: Meet the new guy taking over Tim Hortons
Oleniuk said the biggest challenge was the tight time frame. They were initially contacted by the company in April.
“They wanted this thing open by the end of the year so right away that’s a tight timeline for any construction project, and at that point it hadn’t gone through all the official approval channels yet,” said Oleniuk.
“I think it looks great,” said Oleniuk. “They did a fantastic job and incorporated a lot of different aspects into the design.”
The original store was a converted garage, that had been renovated several times through the years. It had to be torn down to make way for the new building.
Oleniuk and Singh were part of the official opening last week, and they said it was a memorable moment.
“We were blessed to have this opportunity in 2014 to show what we can do,” said Singh.
Their company now has about 25 employees, working on projects across the country, and they hope being involved in a project like this may help their four year old company’s reputation.
“Having done a project like this, hopefully people are watching,” said Singh.
Comments