GreeneScene of the Past: Gainer Building Renovations

I’ve talked to more than one friend who remembers driving up High Street and seeing the crane tearing off the back section of the Ganiear building – aka old Waynesburg Floral – on an early spring morning in 2016. It was a heart stopping moment as the thought hit home – are we about to lose another historic part of Waynesburg?

Mary Beth Pastorious used this photo she took the morning of April 6, 2016 in her Waynesburg Matters column in the May 2016 issue of GreeneSPEAK! Tucked into her article about the Ganiear family and their business, she was happy to report that despite all appearances the county had plans to refurbish the original brick structure to keep its historic presence on High Street intact.

So there it stood, its sturdy brick and limestone shell scooped clean and ready for what would come next. Plywood soon replaced the back wall and vulnerable front windows and a happy mural drawn by school kids let the world know something good was on its way. But when was anyone’s guess. In the coming years, workmen would install the infrastructure every modern building is required to have, from wiring to the restoration of three stories worth of rooms and stairways. Water damage and mold had claimed the nineteenth century niceties of pressed tin ceilings, fancy trims and hardwood floors. This had been a furniture shop for more than 100 years, back when furnishings and furniture were made on site by skilled cabinetmakers and the store’s beautiful interior showcased the fine work that could be yours for the most competitive price in town.

Plans for saving the building began percolating in 2007 when Pastorious returned to her hometown and saw the potential for a creative downtown business district with historic buildings worth visiting. Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful, a community nonprofit that borrowed its name from the publication Fred High sold in 1907 to celebrate Waynesburg’s gas and oil boom days, was already promoting the message that historical preservation helps create a tourist economy along with boosting hometown pride. Local artists and businesses were banding together to rejuvenate the downtown economy with street festivals and farmers markets. 50s Fest was an instant hit and Sheep and Fiber Festival, which got its start in 2002 on High Street was now bringing in crowds every third weekend in May to the Fairgrounds. Pastorious and others helped organize Creative Industries of Greene County, with plans to acquire the Ganiear building and turn it into retail space for artists, along with classroom and office space on the first floor and artist loft apartments on the second and third floors.

“We pitched the plan to the Benedum Foundation for funding to acquire and renovate the building but they did not bite,” Pastorious remembers. Undaunted, Creative Industries rented the former Corner Shoppe on Church Street and created Artisans as a non-profit, showcasing and selling work by approximately 65 local artists for the next three years.

It would take the county’s Redevelopment Authority to save this important piece of Waynesburg’s nationally recognized historic past. 

Once brought up to code, the Ganiear building went on the market and was sold to Nonprofit Development Corporation in October 2021.  Happily, its use as a community resource, as Creative Industries once imagined, have been realized.  Plans are in the works for Center for Community Resources to use it to serve Greene County residents dealing with crisis, County of Greene Mental Health Administrator Brean Fuller told me. These services are already available through CCR, which is located in the Ft. Jackson Building. Having three stories of elegant elbow room on High Street will allow for even more options, including interim housing, affordable rentals and enough space to do programs and accommodate support groups, Fuller noted. The support group Team Hope is already here to help parents who have lost children to suicide and the CCR website lists the many programs and referrals for those experiencing personal crisis.

“We don’t describe anyone’s crisis,” Fuller said. “There are so many reasons people find themselves in need. We’re here to help.”

For more information about CCR services including joining Team Hope, call Brean Fuller 724-852-5276. For the crisis hotline, call 1-800-417-9460 .