Staunton Makerspace gets new location

Laura Peters | The News Leader

STAUNTON - The Staunton Makerspace is moving out of its Central Avenue location to a larger building on Jefferson Street in Staunton's Newtown neighborhood.

The move means more space — more than twice as much — and a chance at nonprofit status.

Thanks to an anonymous donor and grant money from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, the Makerspace was able to purchase the $250,000 building. They plan on investing nearly $85,000 to spruce up the inside by adding walls for separate classrooms and building sections, as well as a new central heating and air conditioning system and insulation.

They are currently applying for nonprofit status, which makes the grant money possible.

"It's a comfortable space for all," said Makerspace President Dan Funk.

Housed in the former Delmar's Body Shop at 20 S. Jefferson St., the space has 6,000 square feet compared to the previous 2,000 square feet.

This will be the Makerspace's third location since its inception in 2014.

A fire displaced the Makerspace in 2017 from its original location on Washington Street, which is how they arrived in what was The News Leader building. Now, The News Leader building has sold to make way for the Staunton Innovation Hub, and the Makerspace needed more room.

"We're always too tight," Funk said. "Every new amount of square footage increases the amount that we can do. When we increase the things we can do, it creates new opportunities for collaboration between people and to see new interesting, novel things happen."

Makerspace is still fully operational at its Central Avenue location, Funk said. In the next 30 to 45 days, the Makerspace will vacate its current location on Central Avenue to the new revamped space on Jefferson Street. Funk said there is going to be a separate area for a 3D printer, electronics and more.

All of the things that can't handle sawdust will be in that separate area, said Eleanor Graham, vice president of the Makerspace.

The new space will also include a separate classroom space.

"It will cover everything we do," Funk said. "That's 3D printing, woodworking, laser cutting, CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machines."

With the added space comes more opportunities for different skill sets to put down some roots. With the upcoming nonprofit status, Funk said they will be adding new guilds.

"We'll have a pottery studio, metal working, we have someone who is interested in doing jewelry making classes, fiber arts is another big addition," he said.

The Makerspace allows people to come explore their ideas. With large laser printers, cutters and machines to build different objects, the space is brought together by a community effort. Currently, there are more than 40 people who are members of the Makerspace.

The members of Makerspace all have a different skill set. Put together, each person can add different facets to a project or lend a different view to it. This makes for a project or product that is being created to grow and come to fruition.

It's membership-based with different tiers people can buy into. Rather than have a management system of donors, they are working from the ground up by having guilds. Each member finds a guild they belong to, like the pottery guild, the woodworking guild and so on.

"These guilds send a representative up to what we call the council of guilds and that is in practice of our government rules," Funk said. "You have to be in here, be active and be a maker in order to have a say in how the place in run."

The board, or council of guilds, will have a base of four to five people incorporating others from various guilds in the Makerspace.

The Makerspace is also teaming up with Habitat for Humanity in construction efforts.

"To us it's the best part of nonprofit collaboration," said Lance Barton, executive director for the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Habitat for Humanity. "These guys are moving into a neighborhood that we've invested over 20 years in. To be able to have stem-based education or the opportunity for a young person in this neighborhood is mind-blowingly beautiful. It's exactly how nonprofits should be working together."

Habitat will give some of its resources to build the infrastructure of the new space — as well as helping incorporate them into the neighborhood.

For more information visit StauntonMakerspace.com.

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Follow Laura Peters @peterslaura and @peterpants. You can reach her at lpeters@newsleader.com or 213-9125.