Dr. Matthew Freedman stands in front of his dental practice on Duke Street.
Dr. Matthew Freedman has sentimental reasons for keeping his dental practice at 416 N. Duke St.
He has business reasons too.
The combination is prompting him to invest $600,000 to renovate and expand the office, rather than relocate.
"At one point, I did look at other sites in the city with a Realtor. But I didn't find anything that hit the nail on the head," said Freedman.
Freedman has deep roots in the North Duke Street office. It was opened by his father, the late Dr. Edward Freedman, in 1983.
Freedman joined his father in practice there 10 years later, after graduating from Temple University School of Dentistry.
The elder Freedman practiced there until shortly before his death in 2010.
"My dad was a very big advocate of practicing in downtown Lancaster and he instilled that in me," said Freedman.
Having been on North Duke Street for so long has had an impact on the office's patient mix.
Freedman estimated that about a fourth of its patients either live or work in the city, some being employed at businesses he patronizes.
"That's part of the culture of practicing in the city. I support them and they support me. There's definitely a bond," he said.
Freedman will be giving and getting support from several other city occupants during the upcoming renovations.
He'll be renting space from Dr. Ross Long at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, 223 N. Lime St., to use as a temporary location during the project.
Freedman and his eight employees will open there Friday. They plan to return to a completely madeover office on North Duke Street by June 1.
LeFevre Funk Architects is the project architect. Fulton Bank is the project lender. Both are city based.
Interior Planning Group of East Hempfield did the interior design. Warfel Construction of East Petersburg is the project contractor.
Freedman said other factors favored remodeling the North Duke Street site, rather than moving permanently elsewhere.
The property has ample off-street parking because it comes with a 32-space parking lot.
The building also is a historic structure, being constructed 140 years ago. It's the former John Bitner mansion.
In addition, the three-story building includes six apartments on the upper two floors, which Freedman is gradually updating.
The dental-office overhaul will expand the 1,660-square-foot footprint by nearly 500 square feet.
That will allow the practice to grow from three chairs to five.
Freedman, though, made sure that the new chairs have a key feature that his father gave to the current ones.
They'll look out large windows onto private gardens.
"People are inherently nervous when they go to the dentist. This way, they don't feel closed in," he said.
In addition, the office space will get all new equipment, lighting, cabinetry, flooring, furniture and many other features.
Freedman expects the project to lead to two new jobs.
Freedman, 48, is a graduate of Conestoga Valley High School and University of Massachusetts.
The East Hempfield resident is immediate past president of the Pennsylvania Academy of General Dentistry and earned the mastership designation in the Academy of General Dentistry.
