Township Room opens in Roscoe Village
Business owners Brad and Janell Richard were joined by their son Tannyr and local officials to cut the ribbon during a ceremony marking the opening of the Township Room event space located in the former Jackson Township Hall at 318 N. Whitewoman St. Pictured from left are: Mary Ellen Given, Max Crown, Mayor Mark Mills, the Richards, Megan Shroyer, Amy Crown, and Tiffany Swigert. Mark Fortune | Beacon
COSHOCTON – The former Jackson Township Hall has returned to its namesake and purpose as a meeting room with the refurbishing and opening of The Township Room event space located at 318 N. Whitewoman St. in Roscoe Village. The business is owned and operated by Brad and Janell Richard with seating for 35, restroom, Wi-Fi, large flat screen TV, local catering available and more.
Officials from Roscoe Village, the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce, Mayor’s office and others were on hand to celebrate the ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Tiffany Swigert, Coshocton Port Authority Director, said, “It’s so exciting. They saw an opportunity in our community to serve and ran with it. This idea went very quickly for them and it turned out absolutely amazing and has already been so well received in our community. We were able to use it last week for a meeting and the praise is just amazing that they can take a building that is so old and so significant in our community and revitalize it.”
Coshocton City Mayor Mark Mills said, “This is terrific to see for our community. I believe reusing a building that was a township hall, a store, a schoolhouse and for many other purposes and to see it in this kind of condition means a lot to our community. To see it preserved in this way says a lot not only about our history but the people that are here now and have preserved it.”
Amy Crown, director of the Coshocton Chamber of Commerce, who is practically a neighbor with the chamber office, located at COTC, said, “Happy 2020. This is an exciting venue and we are looking forward to all the promotions we can have here in such diverse types of events; birthday parties, wedding showers, bridal showers, business meetings in this space and more. They have done such an amazing job of transforming the inside space but keeping the historical aspect of the building.”
Brad Richard said, “I have loved this building for 40 some years and I always had an idea that the building could be more for the community. In the early 2000s we thought it could be a neat place to have a furniture store in the village and that was back when I was building furniture. Fast forward to now, we acquired space under the general store and turned it into space for my company. Everyone that walked in there said how comfortable it was with the original beams and bricks.
“We talked ourselves into this and then out of it when a township trustee said the building was available for lease. But when some of the people from my company took a look at it, they loved it and we wondered if it could be leasable space if when people walked in they felt comfortable and they didn’t want to leave. You can walk in and have your meeting, your party or your graduation and leave. We were then on a compressed timeline and had about 30 days to make this happen. We did the electrical to finishing to flooring to what you see now in that timeframe. ”
Janell Richard said when asked her thoughts on the space and business, “Basically I was supporting Brad. He has always loved this space. It just kind of kept falling back into our laps. Do we want to? What do we do? I’ll be honest, I was skeptical at the idea – I’m more of a stay in my comfort zone. He said, ‘Why don’t we give it a try?’ and I said, ‘Well, we won’t know until we give it a try. He kind of kept it a secret from me of how it was going to look. When I walked in I was blown away.
“We have been just overwhelmed with the response. I’m pretty sure we have at least one booking from now until the end of the year every month. I’m trying to handle the management of it and we’re learning as we’re going. Everyone says it’s just comfortable. They don’t feel like they don’t have to do a lot of work, just come in and have your event and go home. We also want to promote Roscoe Village and bring people here and to Coshocton. This is just a small way to do that.”
“We’re very willing to accommodate everyone and make their event a success.” You can contact the Richards at 740-502-5398 via call or text, visit their website at www.thetownshiproom.com or e-mail booking@thetownshiproom.com. Rates begin at $35 hourly, $225 for an entire day – 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and $125 for an evening – 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Category: Business
