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Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Owner Carl Harbaugh (left) and store manager Mike Ackerman are excited about the pending opening of South Town Glass at the corner of Main and Mill streets in Dallas.
DALLAS -- Carl Harbaugh said he found a treasure in the downtown building slated to be the new home of his business, South Town Glass.
Harbaugh and his daughter, Jenny McNally, discovered a beautifully designed building beneath a neglected exterior and hidden original details on the inside of the building on the corner of Main and Mill streets.
Harbaugh is so fond of his new location that he doesn't plan on having his glass shop open in the corner suite for long.
"It's just lends itself to being more than a glass shop," Harbaugh said. "It's too beautiful."
As workers cleaned and stripped the inside, they found the original wood flooring, which turned out to be in good condition. A recent refinishing left the light fir looking fit for dancing.
If Harbaugh's plans work out, that may be what the space is used for, eventually.
For now, however, Harbaugh is getting the space ready for a full-service glass shop and showroom. A work table will be placed in the back of the main room. The area will be in public view, so passersby can watch employees work with the glass.
The business offers glass for windows, mirrors, shower doors, screen doors and picture frames. South Town repairs glass and rehabilitates the glass on older buildings.
Harbaugh and his wife, Lyn, own the Salem South Town Glass shop on 12th Street. Carl Harbaugh has been in the business for 30 years and has had as many as 35 employees. Recently that has shrunk to around 22.
"We will hopefully be able to put some of those workers back to work by opening this store," he said.
Harbaugh said Dallas may be one of the first of several South Town locations that will open in the Salem area.
"Dallas was missing a glass shop," he said. "We felt it filled a need for them and us."
Harbaugh plans to include the etchings and sculptures of a glass artist as well.
The plan is to open the Dallas store in March , but Harbaugh isn't going to keep South Town there for long. Workers already are preparing the space next door as the permanent home for the glass shop.
He would like to open the corner space as a studio, allowing people to explore the healing potential of music and dance.
Harbaugh said doing so may have saved his life.
Doctors discovered Harbaugh had major artery blockage about a year ago. He was told surgery was not an answer. Harbaugh turned to exercise, but found conventional programs difficult to stick to. Making up a system using music, dance and stress-reducing techniques worked for him. Now, he wants to share them.
That wasn't his original idea, but once the restoration began, Harbaugh couldn't resist doing something more, with McNally's encouragement.
She is an architect who is helping her father with design plans for the building.
They are going to take down the outside canopy and replace the wood above the windows with more glass. Once the glass shop moves next door, the wall separating the main room from the showroom will come down, creating a large open space, ready for dance.
"I think everyone, from kids to adults, should let themselves go with music and dance," Harbaugh said.
