StewMac buys its Shafer Street building
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From Staff Reports
Stewart-MacDonald Manufacturing Co. has purchased the building on Shafer Street in Athens where the company has been located for many years.
Courthouse records show the property was purchased for $800,000 from Steven E. and Denise A. Radliffe, co-successor trustees of the Maxine R. Radcliffe Revocable Living Trust.
The company, known as StewMac, is a mail-order business that sells parts, tools and supplies for repair and construction of guitars and other stringed instruments, related books and plans, instrument accessories, and kits for construction of guitars and other instruments. The company is widely known among instrument builders, and ships internationally.
In January, the Athens Planning Commission gave Title 41 approval to a renovation plan for the building. At the commission meeting, Code Director Rick Sirois said StewMac was planning alterations on all levels of the 50,480-square-foot building to include adding a new office, manufacturing and storage areas. The proposal included some renovations to the basement which was vacated when Economy Supply went out of business, and a StewMac representative told the commission that the company would be putting a workshop in that space. Sirois said the estimated cost of the project was $2.2 million.
The company has received all needed approvals from the city for the project, but still must submit state-approved building plans to the city for review, according to the code office.
