Holy Bleep, We Just Bought The Building

IT'S OFFICIAL. WE are about to become owners of the historic Dodd Building at Fifth and Maine, home of Second String Music since July 2012.

Sheryl and I have two reactions. First, "WHAT THE BLEEP ARE WE DOING? OMG" That was in all caps, by the way. And second, "It's an adventure, and let's get started!"

Sheryl went to a meeting Tuesday and we learned our request for a loan from the city to renovate the second floor has been approved. We are working with Bank of Springfield and we should sign the papers before the end of the month.

And then there will be a party.

This proves a couple of things. We are rocking at Fifth and Maine. You can own a business and make it thrive with hard work (Sheryl's mantra is "Slow and steady wins the race."). You need imagination and faith to run a small business. We also feel that the city and downtown wants us to succeed.

The cat came out of the bag yesterday when Matt Hopf wrote a story for The Whig about the meeting with the city. We were hoping to keep it quiet until we actually signed the papers, but it's no big deal. Plus Lucy the Border Collie of Doom is in the photo.

We will have a press conference in a few weeks detailing more of our plans for the five-story building. We will start with the second floor. If you are interested in leasing space, let me know because we already have a lot of interest.

Again ... let the adventure begin! To our friends and customers, Sheryl and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and it's going to get better and better.