This concept art is of the new Pike Lumber Company building, being constructed on Indiana 114 in Akron, Indiana, and set to be finished next fall. Concept drawing provided
AKRON – Pike Lumber Co., with its northern Indiana corporate headquarters in Akron, Indiana, has started construction on a 22,000-square-foot office there.
The foundation is currently being dug at the east end of Akron along Indiana 114, and the building is supposed to be completed in fall 2021, according to the official announcement.
“The present offices, built in 1937, have served four generations of Pike Lumber Jacks and Jills,” the announcement states.
Local craftsmen are building the new facility, and its interior furnishings and finishes will be a full display of the company’s Pike Brand premium hardwoods. The inside flooring, doors, paneling, stairs and trim will be made from locally grown, sustainable hardwoods from Pike’s own products.
“This is part of our 25-year plan of improving and modernizing to help future generations operate as efficiently as possible,” board Chairman John Brown said. “The groundwork has been laid for the next generation of sawmillers.”
The building will also be constructed using energy efficient products, such as structural insulated panels (SIPS) wall and roof panels and LED lighting.
The Pike family history of sawmillers in northern Indiana goes back to the 19th and 20th centuries with John S. Pike (1853) and D.A. Pike (1904), but the Pike Lumber Company was started by their 20 year-old great-granddaughter and daughter, Helen Pike, in 1933.
“In 1934, she married her mill foreman, Howard Utter, and from these humble beginnings, has grown an operation with three state-of-the- art, high production mills in Milan, Carbon and Akron, Indiana,” the press release states.
Pike has one of the broadest product lines as a manufacturer and distributor of premium hardwood in the lumber industry.
The business offers more than 15 species of wood with thicknesses from 4/4 to 16/4 and special color and width selections.
The company specializes in American Black Walnut and Rift and Quarter Sawn White Oak.
Pike is still owned by a small number of participating families with a philosophy of engaged shareholders.
“It also owns and operates forestland in the tri-state area, manages several thousand acres of forestland for other landowners, and is one of the largest markets for standing timber and cut logs in the region,” the press release states. “As a result of its leadership in forest stewardship and bolstered by a staff of 21 university educated foresters, the company was awarded the Forest Stewardship Award in 2006 by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA).”
Pike is a fully-integrated forest products corporation, starting work with the growing stage and continuing through the manufacturing process to the kiln-dried, delivered lumber product.
The wood products are used by manufacturers of furniture, millwork and flooring and also sold by wholesalers.
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