The moving truck was in downtown Knox yesterday removing the furniture from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation office. Director Charles Weaver and his staff will be moving to 1915 Heaton Street in the strip mall by Christos Restaurant. The move is being made to give the Foundation more room, but what will happen to the building on Main Street that is over 100 years old?
One of the earlier proposals was to bring the wrecking ball in and tear down the structure, but according to a report that could cost over $300,000.
Mayor Rick Chambers felt saddened that the Foundation is moving from its current location.
“We hate to see any business leave downtown and that was a good group to have there,” said Mayor Chambers. “We work closely with that group and I think they’ll miss the downtown area also. We have had conversations with Mr. Weaver and that group on doing something with that building in the future. The only viable situation right now, as far as cost effectiveness, is to tear down that building. We’re working with Mr. Weaver and looking for some state grants to maybe do that. We’ll also be looking into some other options.”
The Economic Development Foundation staff will be in their new facility on Tuesday, March 6th.
