News
NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW
March 24, 2011
 |
| On January 28th, a fire started in the auditorium of the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in East Orange, NJ, and soot and smoke damaged 30 classrooms in the 203k SFfacility. But within three days, an army of 150 restoration specialists brought the elementary school back, and it was able to limit closure to one school day. Taking charge was Maxons Restorations, a 60-year-old disaster recovery firm led by second-generation owner Damon Gersh (his father Max founded the firm after World War II). |
 |
| The most successful restorations are ones where owner-clients haveplanned ahead of time, including emergency response agreements with predetermined pricing, a pre-disaster walkthrough of the properties, and the implementation of recovery plans, Damon tells us. The largest disaster the firm has ever dealt with was the massive cleanup in the aftermath of 9/11, when it was selected as the restoration guru to remove the dust and debris from NYC landmarksSt. Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Church, as well as 50 office buildings and over 3,000 apartment units. Maxons' specialized work included the art restoration of the original oil painting of theGreat Seal of the United States and the New York State seal, both commissioned in the late 1700s and displayed in St. Paul's Chapel. |
 |
| Winter was a particularly busy season, he tells us: the firm had to deal with a burst pipe at a 55k SF vacant office building on Long Island, where the water ran for days. Several other buildings have had gutters back up and roofing systems collapse from the weight of all the snow and ice. At any given time, Maxons has more than 100 service personnel in the field and a flexible workforce to respond to any commercial and residential disasters. When Damon isn't fighting fires and floods, you can find the avid Mets fan at a game or performing lead vocals and guitar with his Long Island-based bandRock Steady, which plays classic rock from the past four decades. His favorite song to play? “Surrender” by Cheap Trick, his and his wife’s song when they dated in sixth grade. |
