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BUSINESS
Campbell Woods renovates downtown building, plans for continued growth
HUNTINGTON -- Walk in the front door of the building on the northeast corner of 10th Street and 3rd Avenue, and the scene is strikingly different than it was two years ago.
The front register and aisles of Love Hardware are now replaced with a polished wood reception area and hallways lined with the stately conference rooms of Campbell Woods law firm.
After the closing of the hardware store in 2010, a beloved establishment in Huntington for 100 years, the future of the building was taken into prudent hands.
Developers Phil Nelson and Jim Weiler renovated the building and now co-own it with its sole occupant, Campbell Woods.
The law firm relocated to the building in 2010 -- a move that not only helped the steadily growing practice streamline its operations, but helped it preserve a local landmark and invest in the revitalization of a city the members love.
"We're singularly proud of the fact that we're part of the city of Huntington and have been for 76 years," said Ed Kowal, a managing partner of the firm along with Pat Jones and Carter Elkins. "We're not going anywhere."
Campbell Woods has about 20 attorneys in Huntington, along with an office in Ashland with four attorneys and another in Charleston with two attorneys.
The firm has invested in the Ashland community as well, having renovated a building on Carter Avenue just last summer. The new facility is double the size of its former office there, and just half a block away.
Their previous office in Huntington was in the Guaranty Bank building, now the Fifth Third Bank Building in the 500 block of 9th Street. They had leased at other locations as well, including the Coal Exchange Building for about 25 years.
They'd been looking for a building of their own for a long time, but finding the right location at the right price proved a challenge, Jones said.
Then the Love Hardware building opened up, and they worked out an arrangement with Weiler and Nelson's development company, Capital Venture Corp., to renovate the facility. It's all complete except for about 10 percent at the back, which soon will house offices for its real estate practice.
Times are ever changing for the firm, which has not only been investing in new facilities but new attorneys. Campbell Woods has brought on five new attorneys in the past 18 months -- Bruce Toney, Erin Winter, Devon Reams-Howell, Natalie Koerber and Natalie E. Corrigan.
It has several well-known professionals practicing in many areas, but their biggest are litigation, insurance defense, general business litigation, corporate law, employment law, estate planning, banking and financial institutions, real estate and health care.
"We've always had slow, steady growth," Kowal said.
When he came to the firm about 30 years ago, there were six attorneys, and when Jones joined, there were 10.
The law firm was founded in 1935 by Rolla Campbell, Selden McNeer and Luther Woods. After World War II, they were joined by Charles Bagley, then Robert Emerson and then Selden McNeer Jr. and Milton Herndon.
For many years, the firm was named Campbell Woods Bagley Emerson McNeer & Herndon, though the named was changed about five years ago.
Now, all the founders have retired, and some are deceased. But the distinguished professionals left their mark. Kowal remembers well how Campbell, the father of renowned amateur golfer Bill Campbell, had a rule. He didn't like seeing lawyers with more than one file on their desk because he didn't think they should work on more than one case at a time.
Back in the earlier years, it was a general practice of law, Kowal said, and over the years, law firms have gravitated toward certain areas of law.
The practice of law also was a lot more collegial back then, he said. Huntington has remained "a rather civil bar" compared with larger cities, Kowal said. But he remembers when, "We used to have fun trying cases. We tried a lot more cases then than now."
The field also has changed in that a lot more is done electronically. The new facility has about 10 percent of the books that the previous ones did, and some of those are just for show. Much of what the attorneys need to know can now be found electronically.
While their new, three-story, 23,000-square-foot facility is built for the 21st Century, it has features to preserve history, such as the artwork that lines the walls on the ground floor and historic photographs of the Love Hardware Building, including one during the 1937 flood.
The second floor of the building has original 100-year-old Alabama pine flooring, Jones said. It was refinished for the corridors and offices, which feature large windows overlooking 3rd Avenue and Pullman Square.
Along with following the guidelines to earn historical tax credits, they kept their employees' convenience and comfort in mind during the renovation project.
"If you're going to be here working a lot, you want a nice place to work," Jones said.
They're proud of their investment in Huntington. With effective leadership and community involvement, there's nothing that can keep the city too far down, Kowal and Jones said.
Huntington has had bad times and good times, Kowal said, but "We're firm believers that Huntington will be prosperous in the future."
