The Department of Agriculture is giving the Commerce Downtown Development Authority $70,000 to renovate its Pine Street building.
The DDA officially accepted the grant last Wednesday after Margaret Duck of the USDA read the multi-page document. The authority voted to authorize Chairman Bob Sosebee and Executive Director Hasco Craver to execute the agreement.
The DDA plans to create a “business development center” in what for years was Collins Cleaners.
Equally as important — to the DDA anyway — is that the project will result in handicap accessible public restrooms in the downtown. That was identified as among the downtown’s top needs
But Craver expects the business development aspect to benefit the community for years to come.
He said it will provide meeting space for small business seminars, other meetings, even for the solicitation of new business and industries.
It will also provide the DDA with display space so the products, services and amenities of the community can be showcased.
“It’s another piece of the pie similar to Spencer Park in that we’re trying to get people to stay in the community longer,” said Craver. “We hope they’ll grab something to eat, perform some other shopping, then we’ll have restrooms available or if they’re looking for something particular, information that would detail what they are looking for.”
The building will also include a “history of Commerce wall” that will briefly detail Commerce from its foundation as Harmony Grove, through the railroad and textile eras to the present.
