Hulman Building to create ‘hub of activity’ in Terre Haute
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIt is a building that has stood for more than 130 years in Terre Haute, serving as the headquarters for Hulman & Co. and its iconic Clabber Girl Baking Powder.
Two years after the Hulman family sold the building to Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson, it is now being transformed into coworking and office space, as well as a one-stop shop for innovators looking to create businesses.
“What we want is to be able to have anybody who’s interested in starting a business growing their business, anything having to do with business to be able to walk through the doors of this building and access those services that they need,” said Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kristin Craig.
The Station, a coworking space formerly known as Launch Terre Haute, opened to the community this month inside the former Clabber Girl Bake Shop and Museum.
But Craig emphasized the goal of the building’s reuse is about more than just The Station.
“If it’s talking to the chamber, we’re here, talking to the Economic Development Corp., they’re here,” she said. “If it’s finding that landing space as a coworking space, and you want to come to The Station, it’s here. To really have all of those resources in one place for people to be able to access is so important.”
Brian Kooistra, executive vice president of Gibson Development LLC, said the developer sees new life for the grand old building as a unique spark that can further ignite a downtown resurgence.
“It’s really a hub of activity. It’s people coming into work. It’s people eating breakfast, dining out, enjoying a drink after work and just really bringing more density to downtown, more traffic walking the streets,” Kooistra said. “I think it’s it’s gonna be a great, really a great book end to the east end of downtown Terre Haute.”
In all, the first two floors of the seven-floor building will house The Station, the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, Terre Haute Economic Development Corp., Terre Haute Redevelopment Department, the Terre Haute Metropolitan Planning Organization and Western Indiana Workforce Investment Board Inc.
Plans for the remaining five floors have not yet been finalized, but Kooistra previously told IIB that additional office and residential space is on the table.