Century-old Ledegar Roofing expands next door

After outgrowing its location at 1711 Miller St. in La Crosse, the 105-year-old Ledegar Roofing has expanded next door, into the former home of another century-old business.

Ledegar Roofing moved its offices and fabricating department in February to the former Peter Nelson & Son Inc. location at 1701 Miller St. The latter business closed Dec. 31 after 122 years as a general contractor.

We outgrew our old building but have retained it, said Dan Koonce, president of Ledegar Roofing.

Koonce and the companys vice president, Peter Karlin, bought the roofing business in 1996 from Karlins father, Ralph Karlin, who retired. Ralph Karlin had bought it in 1985.

John Ledegar started the business in 1908.

The main thing we do is commercial roofing every kind of roofing you can think of, Koonce said. Roofing work on commercial, industrial and institutional buildings (such as hospitals, churches and government structures) accounts for about three-fourths of the companys business.

Ledegar Roofings employment peaks during the summer months. Sometimes it gets up to 60 to 70 employees, if weather cooperates, Koonce said.

Ledegar Roofing added about 20 employees with its expansion into residential roofing less than 10 years ago.

Extensive roof damage from the May 2011 tornado on La Crosses South Side and the April 2011 hail storms that pounded the region drew what Koonce calls a lot of storm chasers that temporarily set up shop in the city.

A lot of the work (those businesses) did wasnt done well, and we had to go back and fix it, Koonce said.

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Century-old Ledegar Roofing expands next door