As you may have read last week, the Statesboro Herald recently purchased property across Proctor Street from the Herald building totaling a little less than two acres.

Commonly known as the Maxway center, three businesses currently operate there — the Maxway store, Western Finance and Serv Pro.

The Herald also purchased property directly behind the Maxway center that is adjacent to the Core Credit Union drive-thru windows.

There are four buildings on the property. Three are vacant, while The Teal House serves as Statesboro’s Regional Sexual Assault Center.

As our owner and Morris Multimedia CEO Charles Morris said, our first order of business is to be a good landlord to our tenants.

In the not-too-distant future, however, we want to create a space that will benefit and be of use to the Statesboro and Bulloch County community.

And what will that be…? Well, we really don’t know. We have met with some area leaders and planners and talked in very general terms.

Everything short of a cement factory, a hog farm and landfill could be on the table to discuss as a possibile use.

But we don’t want to discuss a future plan just among ourselves. We want and need some advice and suggestions from you, the public, about a long-term plan for the property.

What do you think would be a reasonable use of the property? What do you envision for a two-acre parcel in the middle of downtown Statesboro that area residents, families, Georgia Southern students and visitors would come to think of as a destination?

So, to help us come up with a plan, I invite you to the Statesboro Herald office on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on those days to meet with me and Joe McGlamery, when he’s available, and perhaps other members of our staff.

We’ll offer you a cup of coffee or bottle of water and listen to your thoughts and ideas about possible uses of the property across the street. We’ll take good notes and share some of our ideas with you to see what you think.

Please come help us develop a plan that will become a new landmark for our community. The Herald coffee bar will open this Tuesday.