PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – A century-old building in historic downtown Hattiesburg will soon be home to a new grocery store, performing arts studio and office space.

Prospect on Main is scheduled to open this fall in the old Heidelberg building on the 500 block of Main Street.

David Shemper is behind the project. He has been working and planning on it for over a year.

“Since 1907, (the building) has housed so many different businesses and things over the years that the facade has changed tremendously,” said Shemper, who conducted extensive research on the building as part of the process.

In the early 20th century, Heidelberg Furniture was originally located here, later becoming the Ben Franklin Fresh Market and then the Scott Store Fresh Market, according to Shemper.

“In the ’60s and late ’70s, it was everything from a fabric store to a bookstore for a minute or two,” he explained. “There were visions of turning it into some kind of shopping mall. That never really panned out.”

Shemper added that the building was most recently used as a law office.

Shemper already has two tenants on the ground floor: a small grocery store and a dance studio.

“We wanted the building to be alive,” he said. “We want people to come in and out of the building.”

Sincerely Grocery offers specialty brand groceries, take-out meals and other staples for people who live, work and visit downtown.

Studio 522 will provide studio space for art, dance and performing arts.

Shemper’s HCS Trading will occupy one of the few office spaces on the upper floor. There will also be a communal kitchen and space for catering events.

“My vision was to make it as industrial a building as possible while remaining true to the history of the site and the building,” Shemper explained his vision. “Because I’m in the scrap metal business, I always like to see metal. Metal lasts. After the work we’ve done here, we want this building to be here for another 100 years.”

To respect the previous owners, Shemper has attempted to preserve or restore original features.

“We used brickwork to create moldings,” he said. “Some of the pieces of wood we reused on the ground floor we will use as moldings on the window.”

In addition, there will be newer and more modern features, such as additional solar panels on the roof to provide electricity.

As his project takes shape, Shemper said he is proud of his team’s work.

The building is the latest in a series of projects in the inner city area in recent years.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before each of these buildings on Main Street are renovated and brought back to life,” Shemper said.

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