Groundbreaking held for Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce building expansion

CLEAR LAKE — Groundbreaking was held midday Tuesday for the expansion and renovation of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce’s building at 205 Main Avenue.

The Chamber announced a $2.3 million project last August that aims to more than double the current building’s size, provide a new accessible welcome center, a dedicated event preparation area, and modern meeting spaces. The old building also had a number of deficiencies such as an outdated HVAC system.

Mayor Nelson Crabb says the updated Chamber building will be a great improvement for promoting the community. “When this new building gets here, it will be, mark my words, it will be the spotlight at the end of Main before you put your boat into the lake. You’ll be able to see that spotlight from the lake, from the park, as a matter of fact, all over town. It will be the building that looks and brings out programs that are top-notch for this whole community and the Chamber world.”

Before swinging a golden sledgehammer to put a hole in the southern wall of the building, Chamber president and CEO Stacy Doughan says after being talked about for years, a building renovation project is finally coming true. She says they’re grateful for everybody who has shown support.  “Coming out of the pandemic, the board really took the proper strategic path to make this building a reality. We invited UNI’s Institute for Decision Making here. We developed a strategic plan and essentially put a three to four year path in place to get us to a spot where we could launch a capital campaign. That was last year around August 2024, we launched our capital campaign.”

The project is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2026. The Chamber has moved into temporary headquarters up the street at 306 Main Avenue.