Van Buren conservation board to lease Greef Store

BENTONSPORT – Van Buren County Conservation Board voted to lease the Greef General Store to Rhea Huddleston during its monthly meeting Feb. 12.

Huddleston will lease the Greef Store for $6,000 per year, for a five-year period.

Built in the mid 1840s, this once busy general store is now owned by the Van Buren County Conservation. It houses various dealers with antiques, hand crafted items, and museum pieces.

Under the terms of the lease with Huddleston, items sold at the store will fit the theme of Bentonsport and meet the approval of the conservation board. The store will be open eight hours a day, six days a week. The conservation department will continue to run an event in May and October. During other events, Huddleston can work with other shop owners or request rental space of the park with conservation permission to enhance or promote Bentonsport.

All conservation board members voted in favor of the lease.

Conservation board members are Bob Steingreaber, Dorothy Gilbert, Steve Hood, Mark Meek and Justina Scott. Steingreaber is board president.

The meeting was held to a standing room only audience.

Huddleston approached the conservation board last year about possibly leasing the Greef Store. The board and Huddleston worked out a proposed lease that was approved earlier this month. The board held a hearing at its January meeting and tabled a decision to the February meeting.

The board states that the Greef Store lost $11,691.19 in 2018. The board estimates that they would have a net income of $4,454 under a lease. This would free up $16,000 for the conservation department to use in other areas. Steingreaber said that Van Buren is the only county conservation department that operates a retail store in the state. He said that the money saved from not operating the Greef Store would be used to fund activities that more closely relate to the purposes of the conservation department. He also said that the conservation board still is committed to Bentonsport.

At a meeting last month, those opposed to the lease stated that the Greef Store is essential to the community and that the county receives a benefit from the increased tax base in the area. They also wanted the opportunity to come up with options in operating the Greef Store.

Huddleston outlined ways she would enhance the Greef Store and that she has worked to promote Bentonsport.

The lease begins this year.