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Chamber unveiling new digs
April 14, 2007
By AMEERAH CETAWAYO, The Daily News
Pardon the mess, the bare walls and boxes.
The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce is in
the process of moving into its new
building, at the corner of Seventh Avenue and
College Street, where it will be known as
the Houchens Industries Center for Business.
Despite the pre-finished feel, however, the
chamber plans to open for business at 8:30
a.m. Monday.
The chamber has been juggling its events and
projects along with the move, debuting its
5-Minute Networking events and keeping up with
ribbon cuttings and new partners, said
Tonya Matthews, vice president of
communications.
“Scott, Murphy and Daniel handled a challenging
project well,” Matthews said.
Matthews said the concrete for the front of the
building was supposed to be poured last
Thursday, but the cold weather dampened the
plans.
The builders then decided it would be better to
pour the concrete on Monday, but there
was one problem – that was the same time the
chamber was getting furniture delivered,
according to Matthews.
“So they built a bridge,” Matthews said, so that
both tasks could be completed
simultaneously – the concrete can dry and the
furniture can be rolled in.
Amanda Johnson, office manager for the chamber,
said a project that could have been
very frustrating has worked out.
“It’s coming together really well,” Johnson
said.
Friday, a courtyard of mostly dirt was turned
into a beautiful landscape in just a few
hours, and the front lobby’s terrazzo floor
received its final scrub-down.
“When you consider how the business community in
Bowling Green and southcentral
Kentucky stepped up to make this dream become a
reality, it’s really overwhelming,”
said Jim Hizer, president and CEO for the
chamber. “We’re so blessed because we have
great volunteer leadership in the community.
They were bound and determined from the
beginning that this would be great and reflect
the progressive nature of the community.
“I’ve seen a lot of chamber buildings in my
career and I’ve never seen one finer than this
one. As a community, we should be proud.”
On Wednesday, the chamber received some help
from a group of 17 young people and
three adults from Broadway United Methodist
Church, who were spending their spring
break helping with various community projects.
“They were here and they were a blessing,”
Johnson said. “They helped us get that
whole building packed in a few hours. It was
amazing.”
Matthews said old documents may be donated to
the Kentucky Museum, many going
back to the ’50s and even earlier, since the
chamber lost boxes of pictures that matted
up after drying from the 3 inches of water that
flooded the chamber in a hail storm years
ago.
The technological infrastructure for the new
15,000-square-foot building features hightech
security, surveillance, keyless entry, lighting
and climate-control systems based on
the Hitcents.com’s EyeOn software. Because of
that, the chamber’s building will have
automated conference rooms that include
projector screens.
Donations from Houchens and about 200 other
chamber partners total more than $2.8
million for the construction of the building.
On May 10, the Bowling Green Area Chamber of
Commerce will be auctioning off its old
furniture, including chairs, pictures, the
chamber’s boardroom table and other large
pieces of furniture.
“Since we’re not taking any of the furniture,
it’s a quicker move,”Johnson said.
The auction is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
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Copyright 2007 News Publishing LLC (Bowling
Green, KY)
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