Log in

Chamber scales back plans for building

Posted 11/19/19

The Chamber of Commerce is moving forward with a revised construction plan to remodel its current 20-year-old office building at the corner of Palisades Blvd. and Verde River Dr.

Renovations will …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Chamber scales back plans for building

Posted

The Chamber of Commerce is moving forward with a revised construction plan to remodel its current 20-year-old office building at the corner of Palisades Blvd. and Verde River Dr.

Renovations will provide more meeting space, a second-floor patio, a “dynamic” visitor’s center and outdoor meeting area for events, Chamber executive director Betsy LaVoie said in a prepared press release.

The cost of the project, construction timetable and source of funding were not addressed in the press release, although LaVoie said the scaled-back version would “save about a million dollars.”

The majority of the Chamber’s revenue comes from the major arts and crafts festivals in November and February, and is supplemented by membership dues.

The Chamber board of directors and former CEO Scott Soldat-Valenzuela had discussed upgrading and expanding the building since the spring of 2018.

Soldat-Valenzuela left the position Sept. 1. LaVoie was named to the job in mid-September.

What residents won’t see, said LaVoie, will be co-working space and leased offices that were included in the original expansion plan proposed by Soldat-Valenzuela.

LaVoie said the project was “already tracking to be over budget” but other reasons also swayed the decision.

“I looked at research done when the previous CEO made these decisions and, quite frankly, this community has changed,” she said. “There are now many options for co-working spaces and additional meeting space offered in the local business community.

“And the last thing we want to do is compete with our own members.”

The business organization purchased an adjacent lot, designed for a new addition, for $70,000 last March.

The Chamber will use the property for outdoor events, said LaVoie. “It is also a great investment. It also gives us many options as we move into the future.”

At one time, the Chamber had thought of moving into Park Place on the Avenue of the Fountains.

The mortgage on the current building, constructed in 1998, was paid in 2005.