Brad Dahlager opens new healthcare practice in Dr. James Dillon’s former office
Brad Dahlager was been in Noblesville since October, but the new business owner and healthcare provider feels deeply connected with the community. In addition to creating a success chiropractic practice, Dahlager and wife, Nathalie, are “carrying the torch” of preserving the historic home of the late Dr. James A. Dillon at 953 Maple Ave.
“I felt I had his ghost looking over my shoulder making sure I was doing things right,” Dahlager said.
Dillon was a longtime physician in Noblesville and served on the Noblesville Parks and Recreation Board for almost 40 years. When the town was in need of a doctor, Dillon came from Iowa with $5 in his pocket.
“He served the community faithfully for 50 years and had a major impact on healthcare,” Dahlager said. “We want to continue that kind of service he provided Noblesville.”
After being a chiropractor for 23 years and owning a private practice in Chicago, Dahlager said he thought it made sense to scale things down. He decided to open up a new practice in a city where the pace was a little slower.
“It was doing very, very well. It was almost too much to see the volume of patients,” he said.
Dahlager sold his practice and put their family home on the market, which ended up selling in a weekend.
“We didn’t have a practice or a home. We didn’t know where we would go,” he said, adding his ideal location was a place like Mayberry. “When you at Noblesville it is a lot like Mayberry – lot of character, high ethics and moral. It’s a really good community.”
Before Noblesville Family Chiropractic settled in in downtown Noblesville the Dahlagers looked at places in Fishers, Carmel and other Indianapolis doughnut cities. Close to giving up on finding a place, Dahlager lucked into finding the building, which had sat on the market for a year, while driving on 10th Street.
“I believe God was holding it for us,” he said. “I knew immediately this was the right spot for us.”
While he is still trying to find out more about the building, Dahlager said the home was built in 1905 by one of the carpenters for the Conner family. When Dillon first owned the house, he rented the two back rooms to sisters to bring in income.
“I’ve always liked old buildings,” he said. “The insistence on quality you can’t get today or get that easily. The craftsmanship and work it took to create that – the attention to detail to make sure everything was just right.”
Dahlager said his parents were antique collectors and he hates “to see anything older tossed aside because it’s older.”
“Those are worth preserving and passing long. You can’t go and buy this anywhere,” he said. “I put a level on a window and it’s still level 109 years later.”
The house has received a few upgrades like converting to a working gas fireplace, but Dahlager’s intention and goal is to restore the building to its original state with antique salvage and period piece correct furnishings.
“We’re finding the right materials little by little,” he said, adding one patient commented on his office bookcase and how it looked like the one Dillon had in his office.
While disconnected the old cast iron radiators and knob and tub fuse box remain, along with all of the original woodwork, cabinetry and flooring, which has an inlay of oak, maple and mahogany wood. Dahlager also is looking into getting a bronze plaque placed on the building recognizing at as the old Dillon office.
“I’m going to stay on that because he deserves that honor,” he said.
The practice
Many people see a chiropractor for chronic pain, where the chiropractor will find the cause of the problem. Noblesville Family Chiropractic’s Brad Dahlager said chiropractors treat the cause of the problem instead of just providing a temporary fix and search for what the patient can change in their lifestyle to help create overall health and wellness.
Dahlager first began his chiropractic career when he realized that he loved to help people.
“I still remember the moment that I decided to become a chiropractor. I was young and successful and making a great living as a manager of a printing company but I felt that my life had little purpose or meaning. I simply wasn’t giving back,” he said. “One day I was grocery shopping and deep in thought about how I could make a contribution to the world when I noticed an older woman hobbling along while pushing her cart. Her right foot was wrapped in bandages and plastic. I saw how much she hurt and I found myself wishing ‘If only I could wrap my hands around her injured foot and help speed the healing of those tissues.’ At that moment, as I realized how much I cared about a total stranger, I suddenly found my purpose; I felt called to go into health care and, having grown up with chiropractic care, choosing to become a chiropractor was a natural decision.”
Noblesville Family Chiropractic, 953 Maple Ave., is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. It is closed on the weekends. To schedule an appointment, call 214-7218.
*Anna Skinner assisted in writing this story.
