The old IGA grocery is a landmark in Ayden. It is being rehabbed as a community center through HUD funds.
Center of community Officials expect to break ground in July on work to transform the old IGA into the Ayden Housing Community Resource Center By Deborah Griffin
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n aging, empty IGA on Lee Street — an artery that cuts through the heart of town — is a historic landmark to some. To others, it’s a dilapidated eyesore. The 5,900-square-foot building has been sitting empty for years. Weeds sprout through cracks in the cement parking lot, plywood boards up glass and fading red and white marquee letters, missing a “T,” spell out “Food Sore.” Soon, the Ayden Housing Authority will refurbish the building from the inside out and offer a wealth of services to residents as its new community center, said Nichole Brown, the housing authority’s executive director. The agency bought the building using funds from the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The old IGA is one of several
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redevelopment projects currently underway in Ayden, said Town Manager Matt Livingston. “In the same area, they are repaving Martin Luther King Jr. Street and putting in new sidewalks,” made possible with Powell Bill funds, he said. And, with the help of Community Development Block Grant neighborhood revitalization funds, the town also is refurbishing the recreation center, across and down the street. He said the new community center will offer an array of services. “It will be used for basic education, career development, job-training and literacy programs. Nichole has a whole range of ideas of what it can be used for. She has met with community volunteers to help guide her in the best way to use the space,” Livingston said. “Mostly, we want it to see it used as a true community building.”
SUMMER/FALL 2021
The store will be renamed Ayden Housing Community Resource Center, and will serve as a hub to enhance the lives of citizens. For many in the town, the building is a point of reference and a part of their early memories. “People who have lived here since they were children can remember when their parents shopped there. The IGA was here long before [any other grocery store],” Brown said. “We are trying to figure out what parts of the building we can keep to save some of that heritage. “We would like to keep the floors if we can,” Brown added. “They are terrazzo (a concrete-gravel mix), which is almost indestructible.” She said when it’s complete, the building will house classrooms, a computer room, an office and a private health screening room.
AYDEN MAGAZINE
