Drive around Spur’s commercial corridors these days, and it’s hard to miss the tall ladders, contractor trucks, and trailers full of building supplies. If there’s any shortage in lumber and roofing material on the market in our area, perhaps it’s because so much of it is being put to use in this tiny town.
The Spur Syndicate, parent corporation of the cornerstone Spur Hardware store at 302 Burlington Avenue, has set the bar high over the past year with its eye-catching garden and outdoor addition and colorful murals.
“There are eight total murals with plans for more,” said store manager and family business member Cade Rutledge. The murals, painted by award-winning Spur artist Vicki Diggs, range from whimsical (one features a cleverly concieved “Stihl Band” of metalwork animals performing on power lawn tools) to the awe-inspiring view of the sun over Soldier Mound.
Rutledge said that while improvements continue on the hardware store, the three-story mercantile building next door at 304 Burlington Avenue will add 2,800 square feet of additional retail space and an expansion for guns and ammo, clothing, sporting goods and home goods.
Already completed and occupied are the Syndicate building at 230 Burlington Avenue, which serves as the group’s LLC headquarters and D’Laine Rutledge’s Wellbeing Counseling office.
Plans are in the works for a café at 311 Burlington Avenue, in addition to residential remodels of Spencer House at 109 Hill Street and the Cottage at 611 Willard Street.
Farther up the city’s main street, Zapata Funeral Home is another of Spur’s earliest enterprises that’s now getting an admirable facelift. According to current director Roy Sanchez, W.S. Campbell, Sr. opened the Campbell Funeral Home ten days after the sale of town lots on November 1, 1909. Three generations of the Campbells owned and operated the funeral home until 1997, and eventually Benjamin and Gina Zapata purchased the business in 2009.
“We are proud to once again be a family owned and operated funeral home, serving our neighbors and community,” said Sanchez.
The transformation of the elegant building at 602 Burlington instantly catches the eye, with its soothing green shades that bring out the façade’s Craftsman details.
Sanchez said that entire exterior of the funeral home and attached home were repainted. The original brick on the south side wall was re-exposed, allowing the original brick exterior to be reworked and painted. Windows have been painted for time being but will be replaced with full picture windows before the end of the year.
Shrubs were removed due to the damage from February’s big freeze in February. The current landscaping with mums will give way to new plantings in the spring.
In addition, a damaged portion of the sidewalk was removed and redone, and new lighting and repainted handrails provide finishing touches.
All design and supervision of the extensive project was handled by Sanchez and his wife, Penny, who serves as office manager. Both are graduates of Spur High School. Spur contractor Robert Delacruz of Handyman Services carried out the work.
“We are excited about the funeral home refresh and are very appreciative of all the communities’ kind words and compliments,” said Roy Sanchez. “We love serving our families . . . renovating it is our way of saying ‘Thank you.’”
New roofs have been installed on two key Spur commercial buildings in September.
At the nonprofit Spur Senior Citizens Center, which suffered increasing rain leaks into the kitchen and elsewhere, the vital facility was at risk of being shut down this spring before the City of Spur and the Spur Economic Development Corporation provided funding for re-roofing.
According to director Linda Alexander, CanTex of Idalou has replaced the 6,800-square-foot roof of the former grocery store building. (The recycled metal from the old roof is up for sale to the public as one lot; bids are being solicited through Oct. 15.)
The Texas Spur building at 424 Burlington, which has been home to the newspaper since it was constructed in 1932 with a common wall to the Palace Theater, opted for a complete replacement after Winter Storm Uri as well.
Multiple layers of asphalt on the 2,500-square-foot flat roof had built up to several inches in depth, according to contractor Rick Collett of U.S. Roof Shield in Matador. Subcontractor Mark Hooton of Spur said the tearoff amounted to some 20,000 pounds of old material. That’s about 1,200 pounds per square, which has been replaced with a fiberglass-coated roof system weighing a mere 90 pounds per square. Work is scheduled for completion before Homecoming events begin this week.
The wooden roof deck was in “amazingly good condition” after the old layers were removed, said Collett, with only a few damaged spots requiring new lumber.
One of those spots, which sprang an annoying leak folloring the winter storm thaw, was right above the desk of publisher Kay Ellington. She’s grateful for a dry desk once more.
“We’re thrilled to be back in shape for visitors during Homecoming,” Ellington said. The newspaper welcomes Spur exes, and especially former newspaper staffers, to stop by Friday and Saturday to take out subscriptions or browse localbranded merchandise.
Other visible commercial projects around town include the handsome new wooden fence constructed along the earlier-renovated East Hill Street home and office of attorney Elaine Harris. The fence was designed and built by Harris’ son, contractor Greg Hardin of Spur, with the assistance of Bucky Phelps.
The board fence is made of cedar with a top rail, Harris said, and measures 275 linear feet.
Work is also under way at the vintage Mission Service Station, at the intersection of Burlington Avenue and Loop 120. And a few blocks down 6th Street at a newer-era fuel stop, the Spur Farmer’s Co-op, owners Bryan and Metessa Thomas have recently installed credit card readers at their pumps. The improvement has turned out to be a boon for business and a welcome service for customers, the Thomases said.
Even Spur’s Dollar General, one of the newest additions to the city’s retail scene, has undergone an interior remodel, said manager Becky Vargas. The new interior layout, which was completed last week, makes new product lines available and focuses on home décor, among other changes.
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