WILLIMANTIC — The celebration was in full swing as the Windham Chamber of Commerce held an open house to recognize their big move home.
For quite some time, the foundation has been out of the yellow building at 1010 Main Street because of needed repairs.
In 2022, the Town of Windham offered the Eastern Connecticut Veterans Center the opportunity to move into 44 Crescent Street, as the Windham Senior Center had moved into the building at Jillson Square.
Diane Nadeau, former president of the Chamber, said the town wanted to exchange buildings with the Chamber so it could use the 1010 Main Street building.
“We agreed because of the importance of all of the veteran programs, and we had more space to have our Chamber meetings and events,” Nadeau said.
The lease with the town ended at the beginning of 2025, so they regained access to 1010 Main Street.
“It took some time to work out the lease termination and to make necessary repairs to the building,” Nadeau said. “We have a new member, Benjamin’s Lawncare, who agreed to work with us to get the grounds back in shape.”
Nadeau added the landscape needed work with removing weed trees, planting flowers, mulching, trimming trees and more. Work was needed on the front door, as well as on signposts and other areas that needed painting.
In addition, the building’s lights had to be replaced because the glass was all broken, and the sign’s lights were also replaced because they were broken.
“We waited for the town to put our name back on the building (letters spelling the Chamber of Commerce from the 1950s), and we are very thankful for Don Fasci, director of Public Works, for taking care of that for us,” Nadeau said.
As for the Veterans Center, their lease is set to expire at the end of the year, and they are in the process of looking for a location to hold their weekly coffee house meetings, as well as a place for the Rob Slate Memorial Food Commissary.
The commissary currently feeds over 380 veterans and their families each month.
“The program will end at the end of the year unless we find a new home,” Nadeau said.
While there is a lot in motion, Chamber board members have said they are happy to be back in their building. The Chamber building is known for promoting tourism, and the Visitor Center will now be open on Main Street.
The Chamber building typically gets a lot of walk-ins seeking assistance with topics such as how to start a business, how to navigate state programs, how to lower energy costs and how to schedule Home Energy Assessments.
The building also offers shared space with several organizations, such as the Windham Region Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Latino Chamber of Windham, Windham Arts and the Partnership for Arts, Culture, History & Tourism.
The admin office for the Vets Center, America Museum and the Commissary will also operate out of 1010 Main Street.
Chamber Board Members are asking everyone, especially those with tourism-related businesses to drop in and leave brochures. Between destroying paper materials due to COVID policies and moving, they are out of brochures.
Businesses and towns can mail them to the office or drop them off in the mailbox at the front door.
“We offer space for any community organization to have meetings, just as we did at 47 Crescent,” Nadeau said. “We can handle meetings up to about 20 people, as there is a large conference table and meeting space on the lower floor.”
There is no fee for the meeting space. While they do not have a kitchen, they have a mini fridge and a coffee pot.
“The Chamber is very excited to be back in our building, which has been a valuable visitor center and business resource center for decades,” said Dan McClintock, chairman of the Board for the Chamber. “It is our privilege to serve the Windham Region and to be part of our Willimantic Main Street family of businesses.”
McClintock added the space at 1010 Main Street is a perfect spot because of its visibility, and that they will be better able to promote restaurants, shops, activities and events in the region, while also helping families and students at Eastern, QVCC and UConn.
Chris Beaudry, owner of The River Room, attended the open house and was happy to be inside the building.
“The Windham Region Chamber of Commerce has good people in the right positions to take the chamber to exciting new places as they look to the future,” Beaudry said. “The resources, training and small business-centric events offer opportunities to help our local business community in uncertain economic times.”
Beaudry added he is thrilled with the additional focus on Latino-owned businesses in the community through WRCC’s Latin Chamber of Commerce project.
“I think it’s a really cool space that is centrally located,” Chris Ambrosio said. “It definitely honors our veterans and gives veteran center vibes. Even some local artists’ artwork on the walls, it’s definitely a space we want to bring back to life and rejuvenate.”
