Van Buren chamber staff ready to move into new offices
by June 18, 2025 5:03 pm 526 views
Rendering of the OG&E Community Room in the new Van Buren Chamber of Commerce offices.
The Van Buren Chamber of Commerce is less than two weeks away from a long-awaited move into its newly renovated offices at 111 N. 12th St., according to chamber President and CEO Julie Murray.
The former public library and city annex building renovated for the chamber also will include a “business resource center.”
Murray said the renovation cost was estimated at $550,000, and the chamber staff – two full time and one part time – will begin moving in June 30. The plan is to be open to the public and for the chamber’s more than 480 members on July 7.
Murray has said the planned move is the result of an economic action plan that was launched in partnership with the city of Van Buren in 2022. The two-year search for a better facility led back to the city of Van Buren and the building on North 12th Street.
She said the new facility will support 75 entrepreneurs on a monthly basis. The new facility will also provide office space for a representative from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Center for Economic Development, and as-needed meeting space for visitors from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Civic groups like the Van Buren Rotary Club and Van Buren Lions Club plan to use the meeting space, according to the chamber.
Murray praised MAHG Architecture and Beshears Construction for their “amazing” work and staying on schedule with the project.
“There have been no huge obstacles and that has been surprising,” she said. “It has been tougher than we thought working remotely since March. We sold our downtown building quicker than we expected and decided to work remotely until the renovation is completed. Our team collaborates constantly, and phone and zoom are just not the same as being together in the same office. We are really looking forward to working together in the same space again.”
The chamber’s former building in the historic downtown is now owned by Vicki and Don Smeraldi, Murray said. They have opened their Monsters on Main business. Products for sale include “vintage classic horror and sci-fi collectibles, including model kits, figures, magazines and movies circa the 1910s through the 1970s,” according to the company website.