MOUNT VERNON — After five years in the historic CA&C depot on South Main Street, the Knox County Chamber of Commerce will soon have a new home.
The chamber bought the building at 11 S. Mulberry St. for $450,000 in December 2024.
Lack of space prompted the move from its current location at 501 S. Main St.
“We want to hire another full-time person, which is exciting because we’re growing. However, we literally would not have office space for them in our current location,” Chamber Executive Director Carol Grubaugh explained.
“The visitor’s bureau could use more office space, too.”
The chamber moved into the CA&C depot in 2019 after 15 years in the former freight depot on South Gay Street. Since 2020, it’s shared space with the Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The South Mulberry building has nearly 3,500 square feet of office space and another 1,000 square feet of storage. Grubaugh anticipates it will be ready in April.
Renovations include removing an interior wall to create a conference room, exterior painting, and new signage and awning.
The chamber has been working on relocating for awhile. Grubaugh said the board was leaning toward staying in the downtown business district, but it looked at different locations.
“We serve the entire county, and our relationships with the villages are important,” she said. “But this is a central location, and when we have meetings and trainings, we typically have them downtown at the Knox Memorial or The Woodward Opera House. Our office is close to those venues.
“We didn’t know what we would find, but we did not want to take up retail space. This was a commercial spot, so we felt it made better sense.”
Chamber of Commerce, CVB tightly connected
Grubaugh served as director of the chamber and CVB to get them up and running. The two organizations officially split on Dec. 31, 2024.
Grubaugh said the chamber will continue its great relationship with the visitors bureau because the two are so tightly connected.
“We’ve loved our time being together with the visitors bureau,” she said. “The visitors bureau is doing great things and has made great strides.
“Moving here to the depot was a lovely invitation from the city because they wanted to keep this location alive. It’s a wonderful place for a Chamber of Commerce.”
