By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
MANTUA -- The Mantua-Shalersville Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Revitalization group and Mantua Rotary will soon have a presence in the village's downtown.
A storefront on East Main Street has been donated to the chamber as a visitor's center. The grand opening is 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday.
Becky Newell, secretary of Downtown Mantua Revitalization and membership chairwoman of the Mantua-Shalersville Chamber, said the space will be open every Friday evening, and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
"We'll be open during the prime hours people are doing their banking," she said. "We hope they'll stop in for a cup of coffee."
The storefront is directly across the street from Chase Bank, and is near the Mantua branch of Middlefield Bank. It is the first building north of "the hole" in the downtown.
Lydia Keefer donated the storefront to the chamber, and Eric Hummel donated furniture he had in storage to the effort.
"The chamber has always wanted to have a presence, beyond e-mails," she said. "We've always wanted to have an actual presence in the downtown."
Businesses that belong to the chamber have been asked to provide literature to promote their businesses.
Hank Cabot and his wife, Mary, will staff the visitor's center on Friday. The Cabots recently returned from a trip to Italy, where they traveled to see the town for which Mantua is named, Newell said.
Newell plans to staff the visitor's center on Saturday.
Eventually, the organizations hope to have enough volunteers to expand the hours the storefront is open.
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