REED-HIBLER BUYS THIRD STREET BUILDINGS

CAMERON—Councilwoman Gina Reed-Hibler breathed life into the 200 block of 3rd Street by initiating a purchase of the 3rd Street Buildings from the Old School-Historical Preservation Society.

The CHPS’s ownership of the condemned structures has been the source of much local consternation at all levels, as the original intent of their purchase and contract with the city was to seek to obtain grants and funding from government and non-government sources to restore the structures.

Those efforts failed, leading the CHPS to drop their insurance coverage on the buildings last fall, and trigger a City process of reclaiming, and likely demolishing the buildings.

Enter Reed-Hibler.

Hibler made an offer of $8,000 on the building, which the CHPS board quickly accepted,

“I think the board was ready to wash their hands of it.”commented City Manager Steve Rasmussen.”

Reed-Hibler, the President of Main Street Cameron sees promise in what others see as a nuisance.

“I’ve been attending Main Street trainings for a long time.”Reed-Hibler said.”I’ve seen example of half-gutted buildings in Missouri and Kansas, which when they were funded and restored, became show places in their communities”

With a clearly daunting task ahead of her, Reed-Hibler is proceeding with an ambitious plan.

“The four item we need in a situation like this are organization, promotion, economic vitality of the surrounding community, and a design that can get the job done.”Reed-Hibler said.”We have access to some outstanding designers.”

Reed-Hibler has had extensive experience in the restoration of old buildings, and with her contacts, has been encouraged to meet with architects…she feels the first step is to have engineers assess the structural integrity of the buildings and then move on.

“The architects want a budget to work from before beginning.”Reed-Hibler said.”I want to know first what the buildings need.”

Reed-Hibler said the CHPS intentions were good, in trying to take the buildings under a non-profit umbrella, and try to get the funding.  Attempts at doing so failed, as Cameron lost out on grants to projects in Kansas City and St. Louis with bigger bang.

“We think taking this back into the private sector gives this a chance.”Reed-Hibler said.”When it’s done, I hope that “learnin’ is earnin’.”

In her heart of hearts, she envisions  return to the original building construction in 1855, as seen in www.cameronhistory.com where more than 100-photos can be found, most prominently during the 1876 centennial celebration.

“There was beautiful brickwork, awnings, and a clean, attractive appearance.”Reed-Hibler noted.”My goals for the structures when done are to place a bakery, a brewery, a restaurant and a jeweler in the space.”

Hibler plans to restore and renovate the buildings, and as a bonus, add apartments above the retail spaces below.

“We have hired Lief Johnson as our engineer and already have day workers ready to go.”Reed-Hibler said.”we have a lot of volunteers ready to chip in, and just have to get the sale closed on October 15.”

A descendant of the McDonalds and McCorkles, two of Cameron’s founding families, Reed-Hibler relates that when she was a teenager, she was counseled by her parents to get out of town and not look back.

“I was told that the community was dying then.”Reed-Hibler said.”That was an agricultural economy in the throes of the farm crisis, recession, and drought…everything that could go wrong did.”

“But were in a different era now.”Reed-Hibler said.”We’re in a post-agricultural economy where we’re in the information age, and that creates many opportunities.”

Reed-Hibler pointed to a stagnant set of economic factors in the 1990’s, less than 2-new housing permits a year, people moving out, and now…20-30 new building permits a year, fiber internet, and cheap oil.

“People are fleeing from the cities and out into areas even beyond the suburbs.”Reed-Hibler said.”Cameron is in a period of great potential opportunity if we can cash in on it.”

As a practical matter, Rasmussen notes that Reed-Hibler’s purchase restarts the clock on a 30-day to report, and 180-days to make appreciable repairs and progress to the buildings.

“The City has a signed contract with CHPS to refurbish the buildings with lapses in June of 2026.”Rasmussen said.”Now, a new plan will be submitted, Gina will raise money and obtain volunteers, and write a new contract with the city. And start the clock over again.”

With a sunami of bad news, and daunting issues all around, Reed-Hibler’s purchase of the 3rd Street buildings is a helpful, positive sign that perhaps the winds are changing.

Good news never goes out of style.