By Jim Hook
jhook@publicopinionnews.com @JimHookPO on Twitter
A Chambersburg entrepreneur has purchased the former train depot where Public Opinion offices are located.
Home Again Concepts LLC on Wednesday purchased the building at 77 N. Third St. for an undisclosed sum. Owner Greg Meyers plans to move his other company, Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens, to a section of the building over the next few months.
Public Opinion will continue to rent office space on the first floor for the immediate future. The second floor of the building will become a business incubator.
"We sold the building today and expect to find a new home for the Public Opinion in the coming few months," said Sara Glines,
president and publisher of Public Opinion. "We're excited to see the old train depot put to good use in the community. We're equally excited to find new space to continue our tradition of community connection with quality journalism and premier marketing opportunities for local businesses. Our new home will certainly reflect those principles."
The new owners plan to return the character of the building to the industrial feel of the train station, according to Kacie Meyers, Greg Meyers' daughter and associate at Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens, 904 Lincoln Way West.
Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens in the near future will move its warehouse to the newspaper's former press room, according to Kacie Meyers. The showroom is to move in December or January. The newspaper's former warehouse space will be converted into offices for Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens.
"We have a lot to do," she said. "We're having a whole kitchen design center. We definitely want to transition to the train station look."
Eventually, the entrance to the 1875 depot will be from the parking lot rather than Third Street, she said. The railroad tracks were originally on Third Street.
Public Opinion has been housed in the former passenger station of the Cumberland Valley Railroad since 1956. The media company employs 34 people.
The coming move for Public Opinion will be the third in its 146-year history. M.A. Foltz in 1866 founded the business monthly The Country Merchant at 37 S. Main St. and three years later established the weekly Public Opinion in the Wolfinger building on the southeast corner of Memorial Square. The newspaper moved to 29-35 Lincoln Way West in 1911 and remained there until the move to Third Street.
The building offers Superior Floorcovering & Kitchens more space and the opportunity to collaborate with tenants, Kacie Meyers said. Superior Floorcovering & Kitchens employs 11 people. Greg Meyers started his business in 1998 as a Floor Coverings International franchise, then went on his own in 2009 as Superior Floorcoverings & Kitchens. The company sells and installs flooring, counter tops and custom showers and remodels kitchens and bathrooms. It makes custom cabinets.
"Hopefully we'll grow with downtown," Kacie Meyers said.
Its current building in Hamilton Township has been rented, she said.
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Jim Hook can be reached at 717-262-4759.
