Dr. Ty Milner has purchased the former Coombe-Bloxdorf building, located at 755 South Grand Ave. in Springfield, and is preparing to move and expand his general dentistry practice.

Milner’s father, Dr. David Milner, established the dental practice in 1987, which has been located at 201 W. Lawrence Ave. since the mid-90s. “My dad has retired, and in order to bring in another doctor, we don’t have space where we’re at,” said Milner. “I wanted to stay in the downtown area, near the Capitol, but a lot of the buildings I looked at were too big or didn’t have enough parking.” The building that formerly housed engineering firm Coombe Bloxdorf needs significant renovations to transform the nearly 5000 square feet of space into a dental office, but Milner liked the location and having other professional businesses nearby.

“We’re completely gutting it, making it a state-of-the-art dental practice,” said Milner, who is working with Josh Siterlet for architectural services and using Michael von Behren as the general contractor. “There’s lots of due diligence, and we’re still in the discovery mode of figuring out if we can move this wall or that wall,” he said. “But I think we’re close to finalizing the floor plans, and then we’ll be ready to submit drawings to the city.”

When the 6-8 month project is complete, the new home of Milner Dentistry will have six dental stations, with room to double that number over time. “We just hired a second hygienist, so we’re in a growth plan,” said Milner, who explained that he hopes to add a second dentist within the next few years.

“This will be a better location for me, our staff and patients. I hope we can serve more people this way.”