BLACKSBURG, Va. – Several Blacksburg nonprofit groups are looking for new office space in advance of a significant rent hike at their current downtown location.
Downtown Blacksburg, Inc., an office for the Lyric Theatre, one of the Montgomery County Regional Tourism offices and the Blacksburg Regional Art Association all share space as a part of the Community Arts Information Office. The CAIO was founded in 2009 as a collaborative space to provide arts and cultural information to local residents and visitors of the New River Valley.
The CAIO's lease on College Avenue in downtown Blacksburg ends in March, and the rent increase has all four organizations looking to relocate.
Laureen Blakemore, director of Downtown Blacksburg, Inc., said the loss of this collaborative space is disappointing, but the organizations will continue to work together to support the arts in the area.
"My bigger sorrow is the loss of the space for the community," Blakemore said. "People come in, tourists or even locals come in here to find out information or to put their own posters up to advertise what they're doing. I don't know where else that's going to happen so some of that is going to be lost."
Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. already has plans to relocate to another location downtown.