BLACKSBURG, Va. – The town of Blacksburg is working to fix up the old Cooks Cleaning Center on North Main Street.
Blacksburg has been diligently trying to clear it of any toxic substances since the time of the acquisition a few years ago.
The town has big plans for the building, and one of them is to transform it into a “retail incubator.”
“We’ve envisioned a combination of meeting spaces, office spaces for non-profits, booths, for people who want to trial, a retail plan, and display space in the front, possibly downtown public restrooms as well,” said Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith.
The town, in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects, has been trying to clean up this area and ultimately make it carbon neutral.
“We hope it’ll be a collision space for creativity, and for social interactions and it came at just the right time and that’s really one of the wonderful things,” said Hager-Smith.
The revitalization of part of Blacksburg’s downtown is going to need many steps, one of which is this project.
According to Mayor Hager-Smith, there is a committee that is specifically created to work on these issues.
“We want the community thinking about how we can improve but by and large people do see an active functioning, beautiful downtown” she said.
Although it will be a few more years before this project is finished, the community is quite enthusiastic about the possibility of this area being a center for non-profit organizations and funds from the American Rescue Plan.
