
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995                   TAG: 9502230061
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI COUNTY CHAMBER PULLS IN AT THE OLD DEPOT

The Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce will show off its new offices in the Pulaski Railway Station to chamber members from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Museum, also in the refurbished depot building, will be open to visitors as well.

"We are pleased. I'm ecstatic," chamber President Sue Berkley said of the new facilities. "This has been a long time in coming, and I kind of feel like I rode in on the sails of it."

Norfolk Southern Corp. gave the unused depot building to the town, which has been working to renovate it since 1989. The work was completed last summer, but it took the rest of 1994 to complete plans for the chamber's move into the building.

Until now, the chamber offices have been located in the Pulaski Municipal Building. The town Police Department has now expanded into that space.

"It's been several years in the planning, but it was worth it," said Nancy Sexton-Bowman, the chamber's executive director. "We've already had bus tours come through. ... We already see an increase in street traffic. People are interested not only in the chamber but the history behind the train station."

In their former offices, chamber employees had to work around stacks of brochures and other papers. The new facilities appear spacious by comparison.

"Believe it or not, it's less floor space," Sexton-Bowman said. "I'm surprised. A lot of it is just where you place your furniture. And also we have storage space here."

Some 20 businesses and agencies helped with the move.

"We all had our families here working," Berkley recalled.

Plans call for extending the New River Trail State Park hiking trail right up to the depot door, which will add more visitors to Pulaski. "The trail will be an asset," Berkley said.

Lisa Tucker has been promoted to chamber membership and communications manager, Berkley said, freeing Sexton-Bowman to make more visits to businesses and attend more meetings.

"So we're trying to become more progressive, not only with this facility but how we do everyday business," Berkley said.

by CNB