At Paper City Clothing Co we recently got the opportunity of a lifetime: We bought a building! After years of dreaming of our own permanent space, the stars aligned earlier this year to make those dreams come true: Following a competitive proposal review process, the City of Holyoke selected us as buyers for 144 High Street, a 5,000 square foot commercial mixed-use building located right downtown.
While we celebrate we'll hear from a few key leaders that helped bring about this milestone, enjoy free food from High Street greats Crave Restaurant and Khi & Eli's, and take a tour of the new building right next door to our event venue the Unicorn Inn where their hospitable bar staff will be welcoming all with drinks at the ready as they always do. We'll also screen a short video directed by Khalif Neville of The Darkside Studios that shows more of our story and vision for renovating the building.
After being abandoned for years, 144 High Street is in rough shape; it has no working utilities and sustained severe damage due to a collapsed roof. There's no doubt that renovating this building is the greatest challenge we've faced yet, but it's nothing we can't handle as long as we work the way we always have: Building with our community!
Prior to abandonment and subsequent acquisition by the City, 144 High Street had been owned by local artists Bernard and Joan Hamel, who operated a fine art gallery and frame shop there for decades. We’re honored to bring this historic building with artistic history back to life for the benefit of today's Holyoke community.
Renovation started this summer and we have already made strides in addressing the damage caused by the collapsed roof and salvaging the structural integrity of the most damaged parts of the building thanks to our contractor and team over at Summit Property Services. As part of the celebration event we're launching a Patronicity crowdfunding campaign to support the continuation of renovation efforts, and are especially lucky that to kick this off we were awarded a matching grant from Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, BizMPower, meaning every dollar we raise in this campaign gets doubled! Even if you can't make it next week to celebrate with us, thank you in advance for keeping an eye on your inbox to stay connected with our crowdfunding campaign efforts during October and November this year.
We are beyond grateful for this opportunity and to each and every individual and organization that's been part of our journey here in our adopted hometown. Hope to see you to celebrate on the evening of Thursday October 20th!