Chamber gets a new entrance
Those who have business at the McMinnville/Warren County Chamber of Commerce may find themselves looking for the door these days.
With the brick work essentially complete, the exterior of the Chamber building has finally taken a finished look. With the renovation and bricking of the original building completed, the structure no longer has the “hybrid” appearance that some found disconcerting.
But along with the change to the old facade came the disappearance of the old familiar front door. There are only windows there now. If you want to get in, you will need to walk around to the side of the new facade to find the entrance.
It seems vanishing doors are just one of the vagaries of progress, and one that director of economic development Don Rigsby finds quite easy to live with, since it brings the building closer to completion, though there is still much work to be done, even to the outside of the building, though the area that is left won’t be seen by the casual observer.
“The brickwork is done except for some of the finishing work,” Rigsby said. “You really can’t do anything else until we pour the platform for the stage area, and then they can decorate and finish the brick around that area. The brick is 99 percent done.”
Rigsby said the roof should be finished within the next few weeks, leaving the interior as the next step. This will not only involve finishing the inside of the addition, but will include a complete renovation of the interior of the old Chamber building as well to bring it up to the look of the new section.
Even so, Rigsby said the building has a long way to go and still needs community support.
“The holdup is we’re getting sort of short on our money available,” he said. “We’re about to spend all our money, so the Chamber is applying for a loan right now. A 40-year, really low-interest loan.
“And then there’s a grant that they’re applying for that we’ve got a good chance at. It’s for new equipment and desks and that kind of thing.”
Rigsby says the Chamber will have to come up with considerable funds to complete the project.
“It’s going to take another $150,000 to $200,000 I think, to finish this whole thing,” he said.
Although there are no plans at present to do any more fund-raisers, Rigsby doesn’t rule that out.
“I think we need to,” he said. “We definitely need to. I believe if we get out there and really put another big push on out here this spring, then people can see the results.”