Heroic Man Rescues Carpet Store

Craig Vestal, owner of Portage Printing, is this year’s winner of the Portage Historic District Commission’s Preservation Award at the annual Historic Homeowners Gathering at the Stuart Manor at Celery Flats. Vestal is being honored for his preservation efforts, not just in Portage but in Schoolcraft where he is living. He has owned Portage Printing for nearly 21 years. The building on West Centre Avenue was once a Mobile Carpet Hut store. Vestal, known for his sense of humor, said, “We preserved a pole barn.’’ But it was more than that. The interior doors and trim were salvaged from the Heritage Company in Kalamazoo, to achieve an older look inside the building. The ambience was further enhanced by using salvaged furniture and printing equipment. Some of the printing equipment is still in use.

The Preservation Award says that Vestal “goes with reusing what is available rather than using new resources, often cheaper looking materials.’’ Also at Portage Printing, he used “recycled’’ items from other places for exterior features: salvages signs such as a street sign rescued from Ann Arbor, currently by the roadside, and the neon sign on the building that came from the demolished former Rest Well Motel in Portage. The sign was altered to refer to Portage Printing service. Vestal and his family currently live in Schoolcraft, restoring the historic “Dr. Nathan Thomas House,’’ “Craig has contributed to historic preservation in Portage through his creativity and attitude towards preserving history,’’ the proclamation to him says.

(Reprinted from the Kalamazoo Gazette)