The Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce will soon be much more visible in Robertsdale.

A design for a new building, which will be built on property the city owns at the intersection of Highway 59 and the northbound on ramp for Highway 90. The city will also own the building, which CBCC will lease.

When Pam Scharr, executive director of the chamber and Dennis Stastka, board chairman, first approached the city with the idea, the council was enthusiastic about the idea.

Joe Kitchens, who serves on the council, told Schaar and Stastka that he thought the building they proposed was too small and suggested they consider adding square footage since the Central Baldwin County area is growing so rapidly.

“I just thought a 1,500 square foot building wasn’t big enough. We know this area is growing and changing and they would have outgrown that building,” he said. Others on the council agreed with Kitchens assessment.

Schaar and Stastka thanked the council and returned to the drawing board and increased the square footage to 2,700 square feet.

The preliminary drawings of the building, designed by Otis Gatlin, show a brick building, facing the intersection of Highway 59 and the on ramp. Gatlin said the raised foundation will be faced with rock and the roof will be made of metal. The design of the building will be similar the the Robertsdale Post Office and the Police Department buildings and will be covered in the same brick.

Of the drawings, Kitchens said, “I think it’s beautiful. We wanted something that was typical of the architecture of the other buildings.”

The city bought the property just over a year ago and Kitchens said the council wanted to see the lot, which is at the entry to the town, used for something special.

Sue Cooper said she likes the drawings. “I think it makes a nice entrance to the city,” she said.

Front and back porches will be constructed, which will allow for the shady lot to be used for small outdoor receptions and other chamber events. The plans call for offices, restrooms, a kitchen area, a conference room and other rooms that can be utilized later.

Schaar, who will have held the position of executive director of the chamber for a year this June, said she is excited about the new building.

“People will be able to see it as soon as they come into town and we are going to have so much more space. We are crowded right now in our little front room and in the new building we will have room for magazines, brochures, business cards, maps and all those things that we have to tell people about our area and our members,” she said.

For the last 31 years, the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce has had only two people to answer all telephone calls, send out informational literature, answer questions and guide visitors who walk in looking for information and do all the things that much be done for the Chamber.

Schaar said as the Central Baldwin area has grown, so has the Chamber. “We have close to 300 members now and we are averaging six new members a month,” she said.

The new building will not only be located at what is essentially the entrance to Robertsdale, but is will also be the first Chamber of Commerce building as visitors come off Interstate 10 and drive south on Highway 59.

Schaar said the new location will allow the chamber to function as a “welcome center” for the Central Baldwin area.

“I think the new building will be a wonderful thing for Robertsdale and for our businesses.,” Schaar said, adding, “I believe the new building represents a new beginning for the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.”

At a recent work session, Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy said preliminary estimates for the cost of the building are somewhere $300,000, but the council and Schaar and Stastka will have more meetings to review the plans before ground is broken.