With Marion officials pushing to develop the city’s downtown, some business owners have already decided to invest in the area.
For example, Constance Boutique — which had been located in the Five Points Mall since November 2011 — moved into a new location at 207 S. Washington St. in late July, and owner Terah Johnson said she hoped the new locale would boost traffic.
“It was time for a change,” she said. “The mall did not bring us that many customers, believe it or not.”
She said she hopes she can draw traffic from the women who spend time at the Community School of the Arts — which is only a few hundred yards from the store.
Tim Moorman, CEO and president of Riverside Credit Union — formerly Charles Street Federal Credit Union — also has decided to move downtown. His company recently broke ground on a 6,400-square-foot, about $1.1 million facility on the corner of First and Washington streets that he hopes can open in six to eight months.
Moorman said the company believes the new location will provide better traffic flow, but it will also “help an area of downtown that’s been an eyesore for decades, (so) it’s mutually beneficial.”
“Nobody knows where we are on Charles Street, but we see the traffic in (the downtown) area,” he said. “We want to help revitalize downtown.”
Tim Eckerle, Grant County Economic Growth Council executive director, said his organization provided technical assistance to the company to guide them through the process of constructing a new building.
“It’s important to see a sizeable new investment in downtown,” Eckerle said. “A brand new building in that location reminds people that Marion is a successful place.”
Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold said the entire process took about six years. The site where the new building is being built was formerly the site of an abandoned house, which the city acquired and tore down.
“Sometimes, these things take a long time,” he said. “We’re pleased that (Moorman) and the board didn’t give up, and now we have a cool new business.”
Moorman said no public assistance or special deal drew his company to the downtown location.
“It was a vision I had — and the board had — to serve our community better,” he said.
The Centrum Mall is also in a revitalization process.
Pamela Schlechty, who founded Creative CommUnity in January 2012, has been directing the revitalization effort for about a year. About a year and a half ago, Schlechty said Chad Seybold negotiated a deal with the mall management that made her mission possible.
That deal, negotiated with investor Michael An, meant more affordable rent rates and the opportunity to host events in the three-floor indoor mall, which Schlechty said helps her attract tenants that fit Creative CommUnity’s vision for a cultural center molded to the needs of the local community.
“It’s beautiful in there, but it’s been dead,” she said. “Everybody’s had to work together to make it happen.”
Schlechty said the idea to reorient the 17,000-square-foot building was spurred by a conversation she had with An and Maria Stefanovic of Hotel Marion about the mall’s unique layout as conducive to small local businesses and creative organizations.
“I always thought it was such a beautiful spot,” she said. “(The mall is) just a perfect opportunity because it’s just a lot of small spaces with people getting started, and the right people just seem to keep coming.”
Other tenants that are members of Creative CommUnity include Aquaticlear, a local water purification start-up; ArtFelt, the studio of watercolor artist Anne Maddox; and AGC Devine Fashions Boutique.
Expected tenants include a restaurant, Schlechty said.