Monett's commercial profile expands with recent activity

Monett is taking its place among the growing communities of southwest Missouri. There is significant commercial and residential activity southwest of Springfield along the Highway 60 corridor.

Monett

Monetts booming, said George Rauch, building inspector for the Barry County city of 7,400 people.

That boom reflects not only commercial development but residential, as well. When I hired on 13 years ago, we wrote maybe 12 building permits a year for housing, and its four and five times that now, Rauch said.

Judy Marshall, owner of Typhoon Island, echoed Rauchs comment on Monetts explosive growth. She is opening a more than $200,000 car wash operation that she will run herself.

The 5,000 square-foot facility at 1103 E. Broadway, next to Marshall Trailer Park, will have four manual bays and one automatic bay, Marshall said.

Lodging

The Super 8 Motel at 201 S. Hess Drive, which opened in April 2000, is at work on a two-story addition. When they built this one three years ago, they kind of had a contingency plan that if we did well they would build on, said manager Glenda Hartsock. The motel employs 15. Owner Brad Gebhard said he expects to hire five more employees to support the addition.

By Thanksgiving, the approximately 10,000-square-foot addition will contribute 19 more guest rooms, for a total of 61 rooms, said Gebhard. The project also encompasses wireless Internet service and a fitness room.

Gebhard did not disclose the cost of the project, but financing is through First State Bank of Monett.

In addition to the Monett Super 8, Gebhard owns eight hotel and motel properties in southwest Missouri, including Super 8s in Bolivar, Nixa, Branson and Clinton, Ark. He also operates a Days Inn and Best Western in Mountain Grove, and Quality Inn and Suites in Springfield.

Arc of the Ozarks

Arc of the Ozarks is building Plymouth House at 400 Euclid Ave. on the site of the old Plymouth School. The facility will be home to six people, said Gene Barnes, president and CEO of the Springfield-based nonprofit organization. Arc will transfer residents from New Vista to the new facility, he added.

That old building is just shot; were going to move those people into the new home, Barnes said. The 4,000-square-foot project is scheduled to be completed by late November and will run about $280,000, he added.

The initial $124,000 is coming from the Barry County Board for the Developmentally Disabled and, for now, the rest will be financed through Community National Bank, Barnes said. General contractor is Mozark Construction of Marionville; John Wiley is the project manager. The architect is Springfields Warren & Goodin Architects/ Engineers PC.

Dining

Fred Grant, owner of 6-year-old Grants Restaurant in Marionville, has launched construction at a second location at 114 S. Chapel Drive in Monett. The $750,000, 8,000-square-foot restaurant is sited on about 2.5 acres and should be finished in January, according to Jerry Dierker, the Monett general contractor for the project.

Allen Moore, architect with Joplin-based Allen R. Moore & Associates, said the facility could accommodate 338 people and will have three dining rooms that can be closed off for private parties.

Carolyn Stellwagen, manager at Grants Restaurant in Marionville, said the new restaurant will need 60 employees and offer a menu of American home-style cooking.

She said Grant looked for a site for about three years before selecting the location next to Monetts Wal-Mart. The project is financed through Countryside Bank in Republic, she added.

Cleaning up

Al Dohmen, owner of Top Hat Laundromat at 208 W. Broadway, is expanding his Laundromat from 900 square feet to 1,500 square feet at 210 W. Broadway. His dry-cleaning business will remain at the previous address. Dohmen, who has been in business for 15 years, employs two in the laundromat and nine in his dry-cleaning operation.

The cost of the move will be about $55,000 and is being financed through Community National Bank and First State Bank of Monett, Dohmen said. He expects to be moved by the end of November.

Dohmen owns Dutch Maid Cleaners, also in Monett, and a laundry pick-up service in Aurora called Top Hat Cleaners.

Shopping center

At 825 E. Highway 60, Michael Pham is building Sunrise Plaza, a 12,000-square-foot strip center that has been under construction for about six months. The cost for the building shell, which will be done in about two weeks, is about $288,000, he said, and itll probably cost another $100,000 to finish the inside. The center was financed through US Bank.

Space will be available for six or seven tenants, Pham said. Lease rates will run about $7.50 per square foot. Total land included in the deal is about 37,000 square feet, which includes a paved parking lot. The general contractor is Richard McCall of Springfield, and the leasing agent is Crown KK Realty in Monett.

Pham has another business venture, Happy House, an oriental restaurant in Monett.

Crowder Evenstart

A 1,512 square-foot modular building is being added to Crowder Colleges Monett operation at 703 S. Lincoln, said Don Johnson, a three-year instructor with the school. Called Crowder College Evenstart, the structure will be used to teach children in a head-start type program, he said. It isnt a warehousing of kids. It isnt a day care, its an evenstart; its a pre-school.

Crowder College, based in Neosho, has been in Monett at various locations for about 20 years, Johnson said.

Besides its Neosho campus, Crowder College has 11 different sites throughout southwest Missouri teaching adult education classes. Courses range from low-level literacy programs to assisting people in getting their GEDs or preparing for ACTs, he added.

The building was constructed by Wilkens Mobile Builders of Devils Springs, Ala., said Anna Jorgenson, psychological coordinator at the school. It is being purchased from Missouri Equipment Leasing Company in Springfield with a $63,000 federal grant.

Its a lease-to-own building, because with a grant we cant straight out buy a building. So were buying it over a period of four years, even though its about halfway paid for now, Jorgenson said.

Johnson added that he hoped to have the building in place on its new foundation before the end of October. There will be three employees in the evenstart building and there are six employees total.

Aurora

Rick Woods, building and zoning official for Aurora, a community of about 8,000 in Lawrence County, said CoxHealth completed a new clinic at 106 Commerce Drive at the end of July.

Seven staff members, including two physicians and a nurse practitioner, will work out of this 9,000-square-foot family practice facility, said Amanda Overman, public relations assistant for CoxHealth. On-site medical capabilities will include a laboratory and X-ray.

The general contractor for the project was DeWitt & Associates Inc. and architectural work was provided by Bates & Associates Inc.