Mid-Morning Coffee Showcases The Messenger
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – On Wednesday morning, the Grapeland Chamber of Commerce hosted a Mid-Morning Coffee at the new digs of The Messenger Newspaper.
After moving out of its former location at 119 S. Main St, the newspaper temporarily relocated to the north end of downtown Grapeland while it awaited renovations on its new home.
Shortly after the New Year, the finishing touches were put in place and The Messenger moved into its permanent home at 113 N. Main Street. For those old-timers out there, the newly renovated building is the old home of Watson’s Hardware and later, Watson’s Game Room. Most recently, the building served as Treasure’s Etc. Antique Shop.
Just before 9 am on St. Patrick’s Day, guests started to arrive and were pleasantly surprised to see the transformation of an empty building to the bright, sparkling new offices of The Messenger.
Chamber President Brandon Bridges informed those in attendance, The Messenger had been purchased by Kelly Nicol from his dad Tom Nicol roughly two years ago.
“The old building was on its last legs and Kelly wanted to move out. He was looking for a new facility to go to and he mentioned it to me and I thought he might be at risk of moving off of Main St. to find a suitable place,” Bridges said.
He added, “The Grapeland Municipal Development District – which replaced our economic development corporation – was questioned with how do we revitalize the downtown area. I was putting two or three things together and thought Kelly could wind up right here. He purchased the building outright and it was a chance to revitalize the entire building. I don’t know if any of you had been in here the last year or two, but it was on its knees. Everything in here was completely re-done.”
Bridges went on to say in recent years, Grapeland State Bank and Best Friend’s Community Services had also been part of the downtown revitalization.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Nicol said. “I think it has worked out better than we thought it would. It is a nice facility. Brandon put a lot of hours into this thing. He was the contractor because there simply wasn’t anyone else.”
Prior to the newspaper discussion, Vulcraft/Verco General Manager John Wall spoke about the latest goings on at the county’s largest employer.
“We are called the Vulcraft/Verco Group now, VVG. You have the bar mills like in Jewett. We have multiple sheet mills and then we have joist and deck businesses. We purchased Verco seven to 10 years ago and it’s a deck facility with satellite decking facilities, much like the one here. They don’t produce joists, but they do produce decking,” Wall said.
The GM also indicated Vulcraft would be hosting next month’s coffee where they would highlight the steel plant’s new grating facility.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
