Mason & Gardner break ground for new building

Mason and Gardner CPAs in Demopolis broke ground recently to signal the beginning of construction for their new offices.

A fire on the evening of July 31, 2019 damaged a majority of the building, which resulted in total loss. Lana Smelley of Smelley Architectures & Interiors is handling the plans for the design of the building and Bob Summerville of Summerville Construction is managing the construction.

“Obviously, we’re excited to see earth moved.  We’re pleased that Lana Smelley and Bob Summerville are managing every phase of this project so we can continue to serve our clients instead of worrying about construction,” said Rob Pearson of Mason and Gardner.

Mason and Gardner was fortunate to be able to move operations to a location on Jackson Street after the fire.

“We belong downtown. The proximity to City Hall, the post office and financial institutions is a plus for us. Available internet service there is outstanding, which is critical to us, since we are always embracing newer technologies,” Pearson said. 

“But more than anything else, we relish the opportunity to grow the value of Downtown Demopolis. We believe Lana and Bob have created a wonderful plan to add to the historic landscape. We owe it to our city to create an aesthetically-pleasing addition to downtown, and I think we’re doing that.”

Pearson said Mason & Gardner faced obstacles over the last few months and expressed confidence in the direction the firm is taking.

“We are constantly reminded that God’s timing is perfect. I believe our firm has exhibited incredible resiliency through a fire, an expansion into Thomasville and the current COVID situation (all in the last 9 months), but we believe our resiliency has been because of a great and perfect God,” he said. “We were prepared for this. We may not have known all the reasons for the chain of events leading up to this moment, from moving our data to the cloud years ago to recent delays in our building groundbreaking, but we are thankful that God does.”

Construction of the new facility — which will include eight offices, a work room, waiting area, kitchenette, two conference rooms,and lots of energy efficiencies — is expected to be completed in September.