The Mathews County Visitor Center has announced that it has raised sufficient funds for the upcoming renovation of Sibley’s Store, and that the organization will be undergoing a number of changes in the coming year.
“The Mathews Visitor Center Advisory Board is thrilled to announce that the community has officially helped us complete our $625,000 Capital Campaign fundraising goal to Save Sibley’s General Store,” fundraising chairman Hunt Thompson stated in a press release.
The community not only responded swiftly and generously to MCVIC’s plea for support in the Gazette-Journal in October, said the release, but residents more than doubled the $30,000 matching challenge grant from The Cabell Foundation, wrapping up the final public phase of the campaign in less than two months.
Any additional contributions that come in will be earmarked toward contingency funding for the project or set aside for future restoration and maintenance to Sibley’s, said the release.
The renovation project is scheduled to break ground in January, said construction project manager Greg Dusenberry, with work focused on raising the building and restoring its more-than-a-century old foundation, which has been deteriorating due to age and water damage. Sibley’s will be lifted 8 feet in the air while the foundation is being rebuilt, which is “sure to be a spectacle in downtown Mathews,” said the release. It will then be lowered to sit permanently 2-3 feet higher than it now sits.
Other major components of the construction include new stairway access to the upper floors, strengthening an interior beam, and flood mitigation. Sibley’s, built in 1898, is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmark Register.
Morse Enterprises, Inc., of Mathews has been awarded the contract for the renovations, said the release, with Ace House Movers performing the lift. Ian Morse, owner of Morse Enterprises, estimates that the project will take up to six months to complete, with MCVIC scheduled, hopefully, to reopen Sibley’s in time for the summer 2023 season.
In the meantime, MCVIC will be renting a temporary location at 260 Main Street, Suite A, with an entry which is located on Brickbat Road across from Mi Casa Azteca. The office will be closed for January in order to prepare for the move and set up the temporary location, said the release. Plans are to reopen to the public a few days a week starting in February. The temporary center will have some retail for sale, area brochures, maps and information, the executive director’s office, and a volunteer-run concierge service.
Leadership changes
In the new year, Bobbi Hatton, preservation advisor for the Save Sibley’s Restoration project, will be assuming the leadership role of MCVIC board president. She will succeed Dusenberry, who has served two terms.
“I am looking forward to continuing the momentum MCVIC has established under Greg’s leadership,” said Hatton. “MCVIC’s role is vital to the success of our charming community, and I feel we will continue to grow and serve Mathews County’s residents and visitors each and every day.”
In addition, Executive Director Emily Allen will be leaving her position in early 2023 after five years with the Mathews Visitor Center. Allen said she is pleased to have accomplished her goal of helping MCVIC achieve its fundraising objective, and of guiding the organization through this major chapter of growth and security.
“The community’s response to the Save Sibley’s Project was the cherry-on-top to a rewarding and busy five years serving MCVIC and this wonderful community,” said Allen. “It proved to me again that when this county unites behind something it believes in, positive outcomes will ensue.”