
January 5, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
When the full project is complete, the showroom at Orangeville Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram will double in size with a grand new entrance and full window concept that will allow natural light to pour into the large open room designed to showcase their new vehicles.
The local dealership is currently undergoing major changes with a new addition being built on the west side of the current building, a new drive-through section in the service department, and renovations to the existing location.
The entire project is expected to take around two years to complete.
After an initial consultation, it was decided that the existing building, which is about 30 years old, is structurally sound and should remain in place but will receive a total interior renovation.
The staff are working in the existing showroom while construction of the new building takes place. When that phase of construction is completed they will move into the new building during the renovation stage.
The Orangeville dealership has seen great success over the past couple of years almost doubling their amount of business since owner Danny Brackett took over the helm.
Mr. Brackett contracted Robert Preston Construction – a local Orangeville builder – to complete the project. Preston Construction has worked on several important local projects.
“Robert’s philosophy has been quality and local people,” Mr. Brackett said of how important it is for him to support the local economy. “He lives in Hockley Valley and everyone he hires is local and that’s my vision as well.”
On the east side of the building the service department is going to be expanded allowing for additional vehicles to be brought into the service bays.
“We’re expanding right to the back of the building as well as expanding the service bays and the service drive through,” Mr. Brackett explained. “We’ve put some new hoists in the shop and insulated the whole place. We’ve increased the size of the dealership because we are now a commercial truck dealer. We have put in a new hoist that is capable of lifting large trucks. We can lift large landscaping trucks and even a fire truck. The Ram brand plays big in that with the large 4500 and 5500 series trucks.”
When completed the dealership will become a flagship type store for Chrysler, Ram, and Dodge products in the region. With a Chrysler plant located in nearby Brampton, many Chrysler employees live in Orangeville and the surrounding towns and consider Orangeville Chrysler their ‘go to’ place for automotive products and service.
The service area expansion will also include a new parts department that will allow much needed additional storage for auto parts and accessories. In addition, an expanded area for winter tire storage is planned.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to have more space – it will be a really good looking showroom,” summed up Orangeville Chrysler Business Relations Manager David Murphy of the new expansion. “We’ll have one of the best dealerships in Orangeville. We’ll have a lot of new products coming in next year which will just add to it all and compliment it. For myself, being born and raised in Orangeville, I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. It’s great to see this transition to something larger and quite amazing. It will be a better presence along the highway and in the town. A lot of people in the town have been waiting for this for years. We still maintain a small town mentality so when something like this happens it’s a big change.”
With the expanded showroom, service area, and renovations to the existing building, Orangeville Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram is building for a successful future servicing the automotive needs of the region.