Mark Warren works in one of the upstairs apartments in The Station on South Locust. The oldest part of the building, a former service station, dates to the 1940s, developer Woody Crenshaw says, and other parts date to the 1970s. Workers are busy preparing the building for today's first Floyd Jubilee.

Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Woody Crenshaw, an investor and developer of the new Station on South Locust, talks about the building, a newly renovated retail and residential building in downtown Floyd. The building will house a restaurant, retail shops and artist studios on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Mike Mitchell plays the violin in the Floyd Music School above the Floyd County Store in downtown Floyd. Mitchell will open a music store in The Station on South Locust (background). "Floyd is a musical community," Mitchell says. "That's what the store is for. If it pays for itself I'll be happy."

FLOYD -- Workers have been sawing, painting and installing to get downtown Floyd's newest renovation ready for today's first Floyd Jubilee.

The building is a 17,000-square-foot former service station turned mixed-use retail and living space. Called The Station on South Locust, the building will have 11 commercial spaces on the first floor and nine apartments upstairs.

"There's a dynamic energy to do something unique with the town," said Woody Crenshaw, an investor and developer of the project. "It's different than going to the mall because [Floyd] is an authentic working village with real entrepreneurs."

The building, which will be open for festival-goers to check out, is the project of eight investors, including Crenshaw, who owns the Floyd Country Store across the street and Crenshaw Lighting in Floyd.

The original building now has a 3,000-square-foot addition to its front. The oldest part of the building dates to the 1940s, Crenshaw said, and other parts date to the 1970s.

A farmers market with covered stalls is also planned next to the building, Crenshaw said. Paths will connect the station to the Village Green, a former grocery store converted into office space in 2007.

Of the 11 commercial spaces, seven are already rented, Crenshaw said.

Planned retail includes a farm-to-table restaurant; a tasting room for local wineries; Troika, a contemporary crafts gallery; a studio for painter Kate Anderson; The Natural Woodworking Company; Mitchell Music Company; and the Floyd Artists Association Gallery, which was formerly in the nearby Winter Sun building.

For music teacher Mike Mitchell of the Floyd Music School, the Station holds an opportunity to fill what he says has become a need for a central music store since The Pickin' Porch, another Floyd music store, closed its retail portion in May.

"I never thought about opening a store until The Pickin' Porch went up for sale," Mitchell said. "It doesn't make sense to compete like that in a one-stoplight town."

The store will offer locally made instruments as well as Martin guitars, Mitchell said, but he doesn't anticipate the store will be fully stocked until next year.

Mitchell will continue to run the Floyd Music School and give lessons from the Floyd Country Store, he said. He will also incorporate his other business, Music Ministry Services, which does PA, audiovisual and other music-related work for churches, into the store.

"Floyd is a musical community," Mitchell said. "That's what the store is for. If it pays for itself I'll be happy."

Down the hall from the music store, Troika will feature crafts from its three owners, Susan Icove, Silvie Granatelli and Gibby Waitzkin.

Each has her own studio -- Icove is a lighting designer, Granatelli a potter and Waitzkin a paper artist -- but wanted an easily accessible space that would help draw people to their individual studios outside town. It will also feature furniture from local woodworkers, Granatelli said.

"We want it to be a domestic environment," Granatelli said. "We want it to feel like someone's home."

Waitzkin and Icove are also investors in the building but say that isn't their reasoning for opening the gallery in the Station.

Crenshaw said that because of Floyd's rural placement, it's in a position to develop into its own sustainable community through projects such as the Station.

"The building is one piece of a strategy for the town," Crenshaw said. "The intent is to give people a place to live and visit. We're rebuilding the community in a way uniquely our own."