By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Downtown Hays Development Corporation (DHDC) moved into a downtown location Feb. 1 where the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting Thu., May 26.
The move to 109 E. 11th is somewhat bittersweet for DHDC Executive Director Sara Bloom. “It’s kind of hidden but we’re glad to be here.”
“We are right between the Paisley Pair Cafe and Gella’s,” she explained. “We’re so excited to finally be downtown. This is something that DHDC has been striving to accomplish for several years now. One, because we’re the Downtown Hays Development Corporation we feel that we need to be in the location that we serve and with the people we serve–that was a huge priority of ours. And also because a couple of years ago the city commissioners really encouraged us to move downtown–fit in and find a place where we could thrive.”
However, the new location is likely temporary.
“We’d been looking for a place that was big enough and in our price range for a long, long time and then discovered this little nook.”
DHDC is renting the office from The Liberty Group, a major developer in downtown Hays.
“They realize the importance of us being downtown,” Bloom said, “and when we approached them about this location, they were very open to us moving in.”
So supportive was The Liberty Group, they gave DHDC six months free rent on the space. “We were very thankful for that,” Bloom added with a smile on her face.
There were a lot of costs with the move from the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine, and other entities helped out.
“We were fortunate to get a lot of the furniture donated from the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development. Insurance Planning also donated some large board tables and chairs. Area rugs were donated and so many volunteers were in here painting.
“The whole community has come together to get us down here where we belong, and we’re so appreciative of that.”
Not much more sprucing up will be done though, according to Bloom.
“The building that we are in is actually earmarked for when a hotel project in downtown Hays gets approved. So eventually this will kind of be a breezeway between Gella’s and the hotel.
“So we’re here for a year or two, while we find another home in downtown.”
Despite the physical removal of the DHDC from the Hays Welcome Center, Bloom said the partnership between the other offices at the Welcome Center and DHDC is as strong as ever.
“We will still actively collaborate with the Chamber of Commerce, the Coalition, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. I have made it a goal of mine to meet with those three entities at least on a monthly basis, where we all four are sitting in the same room again, driving around town talking about the developments, about potential businesses we can get into downtown and the area at large.
“Downtown is vital to the Hays community and so are those other three organizations,” Bloom said firmly.