Tumble-Down Main St. Building Gets New Owner

Main Street Willow Springs has announced the non-profit group will soon finalize the purchase of the historic building at the southeast corner of Center and Main Streets, otherwise known as 100 to 110 East Main St. 

 

As of press time, the group is pursuing traditional funding via a financial institution, said Board Member Mary Jones, but if the financing falls through, a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous will purchase the building and donate it to the group. 

 

If traditional financing works out, the benefactor will help fund the costs of renovations, which Jones estimated may exceed $1 million. 

 

Main Street Willow Springs will also start a GoFundMe account to accept donations towards the renovation of the building. 

 

“It’s a 10,000 square-foot building with a lot of issues,” Jones said. 

 

The first step is to obtain an estimate from a contractor for the cost to stabilize and dry-in the building, she said. That meeting will have already taken place by the time this is on newsstands. 

 

After the work to improve the building’s safety is done, Jones says the group will repair the most usable sections first, working piece by piece.

 

The overall vision for the building is a community space that will eventually feature an art gallery, dedicated space for art classes, office space for the Main Street group, and a visitor center. 

 

The group requests information from the public about the origin and history of the building as well. 

 

“We want to know who built it and its history,” Jones said, “We want old pictures and we want to know who had the first business in there.”

 

The overall project is about “taking our downtown back,” she said, “We intend to create a space for economic development, a permanent art center for classes, geared towards therapeutic art.”

 

According to Jones, this building will be distinct from the services offered by the Ferguson Building because the other building’s great size will allow for the permanent presence of these programs, “more of a fixed space.”

 

Jones said one way or the other, Main Street Willow Springs will be in possession of the building by November 1. They intend to begin the work of drying-in the building immediately. 

 

“I think having it in a nonprofit’s hands is going to change the narrative,” Jones concluded.