The Margaretville Telephone Company (MTC) has recently purchased the office building at 579 Main Street in Margaretville previously occupied by Rettew Engineering with plans to extend its Customer Service operations to the location by the end of the year.
General Manager, Glen Faulkner explains “MTC has been exploring options to address the shortage of office and parking space at their existing office facilities on Swart Street for several years. As part of our reconstruction efforts from the damages sustained during Hurricane Irene, these issues were once again brought to the forefront.”
In completing our post-flood evaluation, it was determined that the Central Office Building, which houses the critical telephone, internet, and cable television equipment, remained operational and could be kept dry during similar flooding events in the future. Although Irene’s flood waters came within inches of causing a catastrophic network failure, new flood prevention modifications will be included as part of our renovation project. The Management and Board of Directors felt very strongly the desire to remain in the Village of Margaretville as long as we were confident we could sustain network operations during a future repeat of the Irene flooding.
The Margaretville Telephone Company has maintained a presence in the community since its inception in 1916 when offices were located in a residential house also located on Swart Street.
The present central office building was erected in 1961 and a second administrative and garage facility was added in 1974. A renovation project after the flood in 1996 converted the garage space into new offices and relocated the garage to the MTC warehouse facility located on Margaretville Mountain Road. At that time, the expanded office space was necessary to accommodate the Company’s growth in Cable Television and Internet businesses.
The purchase of the 579 Main Street property earlier this spring presented a unique opportunity for MTC, notes Faulkner. The property adjoins to the back of our existing office buildings providing a natural expansion of operations, parking, and offices. As we learned of Rettew Engineering’s desire to relocate from the building, an opportunity arose to purchase the property. We anticipate that the move of our Customer Service Department onto Main Street will provide more convenient access for our customers. A subsequent benefit will be the reduction in traffic along Swart Street which is primarily a residential street.
We are eager to become a part of the Main Street business community and look forward to working alongside neighboring businesses to promote Margaretville’s Main Street.
