FEBRUARY 28, 2003 - Mayor Francis G. Slay presented the Mayor's Spirit of St. Louis Award today to Interior Construction Services, Ltd. (ICS), headquartered at 2930 Market St. near downtown.

"The Spirit of St. Louis Award recognizes excellence in business," Mayor Slay said, "and it is my pleasure to recognize Interior Construction Services at this time. The company's commitment to St. Louis and its success here has shown that St. Louis is a great place to do business. We are very proud to have Interior Construction Services as one of our corporate citizens."

ICS, founded in 1980 by owner Greg Zavaglia, specializes in interior finishes such as flooring, ceilings, drywall, and plastering. The company was listed by Engineering News as the 13th largest wall and ceiling contractor in the United States. ICS has worked on most of the major construction projects in the City, including the Edward Jones Dome, Thomas Eagleton Building, and the new City Justice Center.

ICS received the award in recognition of its commitment and major expansion in the City. ICS had outgrown its former location in The Hill neighborhood and, after exploring various expansion options, decided to purchase and renovate the old Industrial Soap Co. building on Market St.

The new office/warehouse space allowed ICS to triple in size from 17,000 square feet to 53,000 square feet. The $2.3 million project received assistance from the City's Local Development Company, one of the City's development boards that provides low-interest loans to small businesses seeking to locate or expand in the City.

After presenting the award, instead of rolling out the red carpet, Mayor Slay rolled "up" the red carpet using ICS' new automated carpet roller/cutter machine.

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