The conspicuous presence of scaffolding and construction workers since last week at the old Masonic Temple on Main Street has generated plenty of buzz in Columbus.
Turns out, summer work on the building at 326 Main St. harkens back to a winter storm.
Snow and ice storms damaged the roof in February 2021, when renovations to the building’s ground floor were underway for a neighborhood grocery market tenant, building owner David Gooch said. The winter weather also caused leaking and interior damage.
Gooch is in talks with another commercial tenant for the property and hopes to have repairs finished by fall, but further damage assessments will be required once the roof is finished, he said.
“Hopefully all this can be resolved by the fall. Obviously, I’d love to have a tenant,” Gooch said.
There’s nothing like watching a TV show that features parts of your hometown.
On that note, International Paper’s Columbus mill was featured on Mike Rowe’s “How America Works,” a show featuring folks working to keep the infrastructure of America alive. The episode aired Monday night on FOX Business.
The episode was described in a press release as an in-depth view of the day-to-day operations in one of America’s oldest industries — the paper and pulp business — featuring employees Janice Buckhalter, operations technician; Bo Dyer, shift technician and mill manager David Phillips.
You know, there comes a time when we all move into our dream house. Such is the case for Josh Read and his team at Edward Jones Financial advising. They have moved from their original office at 115 Fifth St. N. to their new location at the Fashion Barn building on just the other side of Main Street.
Read bought the building after a long time considering the sheer size of the space and what he and his team needed. He plans to lease out much of the building to interested business tenants after making a few more renovations to the space.
“I’d love to have your startup or small business existing that wants more room,” Read said.
Y’all, nothing reminds me that it’s summer more than my car’s broken air conditioner. Thankfully, it appears I’m not the only one overly aware of 90-degree-plus weather.
Rapid Auto Service, an automotive repair shop located at 1121 Gardner Blvd. in Columbus has seen a surge in air conditioning repairs since the summer started. Rapid Auto opened on May 1 and has seen a steady increase in its business.
“Probably from the first month to the second month we’ve at least doubled if not tripled,” said Terry McCool, co-owner.
According to McCool, the business sees about 15 to 20 people a week come in for AC repairs.
In The Golden Triangle, AT&T has partnered with Intrado, a telecommunications company, to provide faster and more accurate information to 9-1-1 call centers, also known as Public Safety answering points using GPS and hybrid information from wireless calls to 911.
Calls can be pinpointed from a range of 50 meters now. Prior to the launch, wireless calls were routed based on cell phone tower locations, which can cover a 10-mile radius. That distance could cause delays in emergency response, especially when calls are made to border areas where state, county or city boundaries overlap.
Moving on to Starkville, my chance to get some real Venezuelan food has unfortunately been put on pause while Arepas moves from 213 East Main St. to its new location in the old Commodore Bob’s building, at 102 Rue Du Grande Fromage, in the Cotton District.
“Our customers are usually more young people and that’s where they hang out. So that’s a good location to be,” Restaurant owner Jose Elarba said.
Elarba expressed excitement about the move and expects to be moved in and open in early August. Today is the last day before the restaurant will be open on Main Street.
And finally, the Pita Pit on 104 W. Main St. in Starkville is temporarily closed after new owners acquired the business. Christine Abigail Carver, former store manager, spoke about the change in a Facebook post on Starkville Strong’s page.
“We have enjoyed all the fun late nights and all of the great conversations every day. This place meant the world to me and to my staff,” Carver said.
No information about the new owners could be found by press time, but the restaurant is set to reopen in a few weeks and a hiring ad was placed on the Pita Pit Starkville Facebook page.
Well, that’s all for this week’s goings on. See y’all next week with more business updates!
Dispatch reporter Grant McLaughlin writes about business openings and closings, as well as other unique business news. Send business tips to biz@cdispatch.com.
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