Downtown grocery store moves forward after securing property funding
Aug. 30—After a successful fundraising effort to repay loans, those leading the Downtown grocery store project are breathing a sigh of relief and focusing on the next steps.
Gateway City Trading Co., the corporation formed to operate the store, hosted an open house to spark community interest and generate funding to pay off the nearly $40,000 loan on the property designated for the store.
Once community members entered the space — although it is no where near ready to open — many started to see what is possible at 101 Francis St, said Tim Doyle, a Gateway City Trading Co. board member.
"It was so good to see not only some of the Downtown stakeholders, but people who will actually benefit from having a grocery store that they can actually walk to and get a good choice of foods, you know, nutritious, healthy food, rather than just, you know, convenience store stuff that really isn't that nutritious," Doyle said.
Along with raising the needed funds, new community connections were forged, which helps the store gain additional momentum. And with the building paid off, some of that pressure is alleviated for the group to focus on next steps.
Doyle said he was concerned that people wouldn't be able to see past the building's current state, but the response was a strong, supportive one.
"You have to have vision to see what the potential could be, and they did, and it was so exciting," Doyle said. "People are partnering with us now to say, 'How can we help, what can we do?' People are excited to see this project move forward and we're welcoming them on to join us in the effort."
The building is one of the oldest left in the area, and the group thinks bringing a store into the space is a great way to preserve that history and move into a new era simultaneously. What they describe as a "grassroots effort," the Gateway City Trading Co. group is dependent on donations and grants to bring this dream to life for those living in and around Downtown.
The group highlights three main benefits to this project: The first is the convenience of having a store for those who live, work and visit Downtown. The second is that it will address the food-insecure population who don't have a healthy food source nearby and can get to simply by walking. The third is the preservation of the building and its historical significance.
With the building paid off, the next few steps will be to conduct a market study to analyze the project's practicality, as well as to pay off the roofers who donated their time and resources for a new roof on the building in the spring.
"We need to know how many people are actually living and working, visiting, shopping in Downtown, so that we can then determine if this is going to be a viable project," Doyle said. "We believe it will, the definition of a food desert is 500 people living in an area who have to go further than a mile to get to a major grocery store. So we know we fit that criteria."
The last several months have been a labor of love, Doyle said, but group members are excited to see the progress continue. With more projects joining the momentum Downtown, they said they believe the time is right to add to it and help push the community forward.
"It's a major project," Doyle said. "It takes a lot of courage to tackle something this large, especially when you're, again, just people with a heart and a vision to see something benefit our Downtown, and I really believe what benefits Downtown benefits the city as a whole."
Stef Manchen can be reached at stef.manchen@newspressnow.com.
