Crab Orchard Museum board members Nancy Brooks, Bonnie White, David Mullins and Martha Hurst, along with Crab Orchard Museum Executive Director Charlotte Whitted, Robert Barrett & Sons, Fisher & Company staff were on hand for the Pisgah Store groundbreaking last week. In the center, holding the celebratory golden shovel are VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher; Ashley Fisher, president of Fisher & Company; Russ Hatfield, chairman of the museum board of directors; and John Fisher, co-owner of Fisher & Company.
TAZEWELL, VA – NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — Ground was officially broken on the Pisgah Store renovations — part of the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park — last Thursday at the store.
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority approved an additional $50,000 grant for the renovation project last August after the museum requested the additional funding due to unforeseen additional work in the renovation process.
The additional grant funding is being used to make an addition to the building as well as other improvements and repairs to it.
Participants in the groundbreaking held a golden shovel to commemorate the event. Barrett Construction is already underway in making the needed renovations to the space which is located at Fisher & Company Restaurant, just off Rt. 19 across from the museum on the museum property.
“We were pleased to take part in the groundbreaking event last week,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “Helping the tourism venues in Southwest Virginia’s e-Region to grow and to create jobs is what the Tourism Capital Improvement Matching Fund was established to do. The museum, which has been a part of Southwest Virginia since 1978, remains a valuable tourism asset in the region, making it a prime candidate for the Tourism Capital Improvement Matching Fund.”
The Pisgah Store, constructed in 1907, is leased to Fisher & Company, which has successfully operated it as a restaurant for approximately five years.
Last April, the VCEDA Board approved an up to $60,000 grant from the VCEDA Tourism Capital Improvement Matching Fund to the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park, Inc. to be used to finance building(s) construction, expansion, and rehabilitation, the purchase of furniture, fixtures, and equipment, other improvements and costs, including architectural, engineering, delivery and installation expenses. The additional $50,000 approved for the project brings the total grant funding for it to $110,000.
“We are so grateful to VCEDA and also the Shott Foundation for their support for this project and others at the museum,” said Crab Orchard Museum Executive Director Charlotte Whitted. “Their investment in the museum will pay dividends in our cultural legacy and economic development for years to come.”
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Southwest Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.