Foundation agrees to help Gwaltney store
Published 11:16 pm Friday, May 11, 2012
After an old general store building in Chuckatuck was named to an endangered list (see related story), the Greater Chuckatuck Historical Foundation has agreed to help the owner restore it.
Preservation Virginia named the early 19-century Gwaltney Store to its annual list, which is intended to bring attention to the fate of historic sites throughout the state.
The building was listed as threatened because the city has issued code violations and condemned the building. In August, a sign posted on the building stated it would be demolished in 90 days if owner Kent Gwaltney did not fix the problems.
The foundation has decided to help Gwaltney in a variety of ways, including financial assistance, said Drex Bradshaw.
“The foundation agreed to go ahead and assist Kent, assuming we get some of the legal things squared away,” Bradshaw said Friday.
He said work on the building could begin within a month if everything goes as planned.
The foundation hopes to have its office in the building and display some of the items it acquired while compiling its book, “Chuckatuck: A Crossroads in Time.”
Gwaltney has obtained a $10,000 grant from the Economic Development Authority’s Façade Grant program to help make repairs.
The earliest known name of the store was Peck’s Cheap Goods. Bradshaw believes that business likely evolved from a trading post, stagecoach or similar establishment on the village’s main corner even earlier than that.