Beebe Chamber finds new home
BEEBE — Mindi Rice, the new Beebe Chamber of Commerce executive director, said she’s excited that the organization’s new home will be in a historic downtown building.
An open house is scheduled for Aug. 16 to reveal the renovated space at 102 N. Main St. A time will be announced later, Rice said.
“I love the fact that they redid an old building. With my background being in historic preservation, that’s right up my alley,” Rice said.
She previously worked for Main Street Blytheville.
Rice, who started April 2 as the Beebe Chamber’s executive director, said the chamber office was in the Beebe City Hall.
“The reason that we’re moving into a new building, the former chamber director (Kristen Boswell) was working for the city and chamber, and the city wanted her to be full time. When she went to work full time for the city, the chamber office was no longer in City Hall,” Rice said.
Boswell is the city’s marketing and public relations director.
“The executive board was running the chamber until a
new location could be found and plans could be made to get things going. The board of directors stepped up and ran things,” Rice said. “The chamber never ceased to exist — we just needed a director.”
Carol Westergren, president of the chamber board of directors, said the chamber will utilize the downstairs of the two-story building, which is owned by Sandra Garrett. Her late husband, Dr. Byrne Garrett, operated his dental practice in the building for years. The building was constructed in 1893, according to a sign on the building, which has been painted over.
Westergren said Sandra Garrett approached the chamber about leasing the building.
“Hopefully, we’ll get to own it, eventually,” Westergren said. “We are so excited. It’s the first time the chamber has ever had a building, had our own spot, where people can come and visit the chamber office and see all the exciting things we have to offer here in Beebe.”
Westergren said being in the historic building is a plus.
“It’s just been a landmark,” she said. “We do have some great businesses already downtown that have been there for years. We’re hoping to help them out … and hoping to help with the downtown revitalization.”
Westergren said although the plan for the move was in motion before Rice was hired, the new executive director helped pull it all together.
“We actually are getting ready to move into the building, but we’re not quite in there,” Rice said last week. She said the building is ready, but furniture is being donated.
“It was kind of a community effort on the building. We hired a construction contractor to come in — there was quite a bit that needed to be done; some flooring had to be replaced.”
She said members of the Beebe High School football team helped pull up old flooring.
“When the contractor took over, he and his crew did a really good job,” Rice said. She said the contractor was Wes McAfee of Honey Do Handyman in Beebe.
Westergren said the contractor also updated the outside of the building, which included cleaning the brick and adding the chamber and Beebe Badger logos on the building.
Rice said she didn’t want to discuss the cost of the renovations. She said no public funds were used; the chamber is a nonprofit organization.
“We’ll have fundraisers to pay that off in the future, for a while,” she said.
The annual Beebe Fall Fest is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 22 downtown.
“It’s a day for the community to come out, and people sell their items, and for people to enjoy the food.” She said there will be activities for the kids, too.
A new event on Sept. 22 is the Fallin’ Blackbird 5K. The 1 Mile Kids’ Fun Run will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the 5K will start at 9 a.m
The name is based on an unusual occurrence in the city. On New Year’s Eve 2011, thousands of dead blackbirds fell from the sky, and on New Year’s Eve in 2012, hundreds dropped from the sky. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officials blamed fireworks for startling the birds, causing them to crash into cars, houses and other objects.
“Our former [board] president — he was the one who thought it would be a neat thing to do a 5K and give it a theme, and since Beebe was known for that happening, we decided to go with that and have fun with that,” Rice said.
Westergren said “people seem excited about it.” The chamber is counting on people to flock to the race.
Applications are available by clicking a link at beebe chamberofcommerce.com.