Chamber sets Nov. 2 groundbreaking
Anderson County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Meredith shows the survey plat of the site for the new chamber headquarters to chamber officials Janet Hawkins, left, and Jackie Patton just after the land was purchased in June 2022. The property is at North Main and North Hicks streets, across from Knight’s Flowers. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
In June, the chamber purchased a 1.17-acre lot at the corner of North Main and North Hicks streets for a new headquarters.
Directly across from Knight’s Florist, the vacant lot was purchased from Brenda Lou Hemphill for $199,900. It has road frontage on North Main and North Hicks streets, with the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks at the rear.
Chamber President Rick Meredith said at the time that there will be two connecting buildings constructed on the site.
One will hold the Chamber of Commerce offices, and the other the Anderson County Tourism Office, which will be moving from its log building near Interstate 75, next to Golden Girls restaurant.
The chamber will relocate from its offices at 245 N. Main St.
There is no street address assigned to the new site yet, said chamber spokesman Jared Forgety.
But Knight’s Florist has an address of 397 N. Main St., on the east side of the road.
Meredith said the chamber budget for its side of the building is a maximum of $2 million, and that Anderson County will be paying for the Tourism Department’s side of the structure.
“We won’t know the cost until we get the design done and we get cost estimates,” Meredith said in June. “We would like to stay way under $2 million.
The chamber wants a one-story design for the structure, but it could go to two levels if necessary, Meredith said.
“We’re hoping to go one story,” he said. “We have to squeeze some parking in there, too.”
Chamber officials were not available on Tuesday to provide an update on the design and cost estimates.