The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation announced plans to move its headquarters from Charlotte to a renovated textile mill in downtown McAdenville, in Gaston County.
The new headquarters will be in Dynamo 31, a 1940s Pharr Yarns Mill at 102 Main St. that's being redeveloped. It will have offices, a conference room, a water testing lab, a classroom, a riverkeeper shop and a taproom.
The foundation currently has offices on North Church Street in Charlotte. Officials said the move was part of a "strategic decision to make its home base along the river."
"We are thrilled to be realizing one of the dreams of our founders - to have an 'on-the-water' headquarters," said foundation Executive Director John Searby in a press release.
A groundbreaking was scheduled Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. The project is expected to be completed this fall.
The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation also recently opened The Boathouse, a retail store and kayak rental hub, at 115 Willow Drive in McAdenville. The Boathouse also is now the organization's temporary headquarters, while the mill is being renovated.
The foundation was formed in 1997 to help preserve and protect the Catawba River. It also has offices in Morganton and in Fort Lawn, South Carolina.
