A new community center in Edinburgh is tiptoeing closer to completion.
Officials hope to open the John R. Drybread Community Center by this winter to businesses and visitors.
The center was originally expected to open in June, but renovations are taking a bit longer than anticipated, said SaraBeth Drybread, who was named the center’s director last week. The project is on track to keep the total cost less than $700,000, she said.
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The community center will serve as a local chamber of commerce, helping existing small businesses, as well as drawing new businesses to the area.
“A large part of our downtown storefronts are empty, and we need to stop that revolving door of businesses,” Drybread said.
The building will also serve as a visitor’s center, with a mail goal of boosting the perception of Edinburgh.
“It has such an outdated reputation that doesn’t exist anymore,” she said. “And we need to do a better job of changing that.”
Drybread also wants to be involved with other local groups, agencies and local government, and hopes to serve as a liaison between the town and other groups, which has been missing in the past, she said.
“Decisions are being made in Johnson County that affect us, and we need to have a voice at the table. I am going to be that voice,” she said.
Another big part of her new job is to improve the town’s marketing efforts and presence on social media.
The next step is to develop committees, she said. For example, one committee will be responsible for planning the town’s upcoming bicentennial in 2020.
