The 101-year-old building that houses the Brookhaven-LincolnCounty Chamber of Commerce on South Whitworth Avenue is nearing theend of year-long renovations, all while keeping its charm.

“All the work has been done to the satisfaction of theMississippi Department of Archives and History,” said CliffBrumfield, the chamber of commerce’s executive vice president. “Thebuilding is now at its original state when it was open to thepublic in 1910.”

While some electrical and plumbing work ensued in 2009, the bulkof the facelift has occurred in the past several months. Crews havebeen refinishing floors, remodeling the kitchen, painting thewalls, replacing the gutters and tearing out carpet that dates backto 1983.

“A lot of the items were original to us,” said Brumfield. “Otheritems of the building had not been improved for 40, 50 years.”

The cost of making an old building feel new, however, does notcome at a cheap price.

Fortunately, the chamber was able to acquire an appropriationthrough the city for a Historic Preservation Grant through Housingand Urban Development. Brumfield said the total project budgetincluding materials and labor would not exceed $297,000, which isthe amount of the grant.

“With a building of this magnitude, upkeep costs can beexpensive,” said Brumfield. “This grant allows us to spend ourmoney on more important items.”

With no local money going toward the renovations, the chamber’spockets are able to stay a little deeper and chamber officials areable to keep more monthly operation money available and focus onmarketing the community.

“The chamber office is often the first stop for businesses andfamilies relocating to the area,” said Brumfield. “The building nowmakes an impression that coincides with the impression of ourcommunity.”

Mayor Les Bumgarner said he was glad that the city could play acrucial part in acquiring a grant to help make the renovationspossible.

“(The chamber) means a lot to Brookhaven being the old cityhall,” said Bumgarner. “We were happy to help them restoresomething that means a lot to many people.”

Despite ongoing construction, the chamber’s foot traffic willremain consistent, as the building will stay open to allow for theday-to-day activities to continue and to assist the city’svisitors.

“The chamber has been inconvenienced for over a year and had towork around all the construction,” said Bumgarner. “But I think itwas well worth it. I think we’re going to have a building that willlast a long time.”

Brumfield mentioned the chamber will see some more flooringrenovations, more painting and the installation of a few lightfixtures, but hopes the overhaul is complete by mid March.

“The staff and I are looking forward to the project coming to anend,” said Brumfield. “We’re really looking forward to havingthings back to normal and returning to peace and quiet.”