news-record.com

HIGH POINT — This city's famous and long-empty "Big Bureau" will soon be hosting birthday parties and weddings.

The building, constructed in the 1920s to resemble a giant chest of drawers and symbolize High Point's importance in the furniture industry, was purchased last fall by designer and local business owner Pam Stern. After a year of renovations and repairs, Stern plans to use the facility to stage events and eventually host a minimuseum dealing with downtown High Point.

Stern, a High Point native and owner of Moveit! Makeovers, said she bought the bureau in order to save it.

"No one wanted it," Stern said. "High Point is losing its history quickly because showrooms took over the historical downtown."

The bureau, which was at Main and Church streets when it was built by the High Point Jaycees in the 1920s, has been at 508 N. Hamilton St. since it was moved there in the 1940s.

In the 1970s, its original wooden face was covered with aluminum siding.

For decades, the bureau housed the Chamber of Commerce, which sold it to Stern after a long stint on the sales block. According to tax records at the Guilford County Courthouse, Stern paid $148,000 for the facility, which carries a tax value of $201,100.

Stern said she purchased another property behind the bureau, giving her a full acre, which she hopes to make into a city park. "There are no parks in downtown High Point," Stern said.

Manager Anne Beck said the bureau's first event — a birthday party — is scheduled for next month. Wedding packages ranging from $150 to $500 are being offered, Beck said.

Contact Tom Steadman at 883-4422, Ext. 228 or tsteadman@news-record.com