Owner moves real estate business downtown, opens event center next door in former Forum

QUINCY — As the managing broker and owner of Bower & Associates Realtors, Inc., Carol Shaffer’s primary job is to help people buy and sell real estate.

However, when the building once known as the Forum Show Palace and Winter’s West Wing, along with two other properties at 415-419 Hampshire, was available to buy, Shaffer couldn’t help herself.

She and her partner Mickey Tuter are in the process of buying all of them from Jon Winter. 

“I had this building listed for two years,” Shaffer said. “Every time I came down here to show it to someone, I just fell more and more in love with it.”

As Bower & Associates outgrew space at 2829 Broadway, Shaffer moved it in May to 419 Hampshire, formerly known as O’Griff’s Brewhouse.

“(Buying all three properties) wasn’t really even on my radar of a possibility,” she said. “As the Bower business was growing, I was bringing on more agents. When I started looking at moving my office, and checking other places to rent, it didn’t make sense. But we could buy this. It was ours, and we’re essentially paying yourself.”

Bridal expo, trivia night fundraiser held in March

Shaffer and Tuter, who live in Loraine, recently opened the Corinthian Event Center in the former Forum, 415 Hampshire. The first events — a bridal expo and a trivia night fundraiser for a local fast-pitch softball team — were in March.

Shaffer hopes to lease the building in the middle, formerly known as O’Griff’s Bar, to a retail business. She also took over nine upstairs apartments that are all rented.

“The buildings can never be separated,” Shaffer said. “You had to buy them all as a big package. So one day I said, ‘Let’s just buy these buildings.’ And then we’ll put my office in the East Room. So that’s what we did.”

The event center can accommodate up to 250 people seated and 400 people standing. Weddings are booked in the event center in May and June.

“There was just something about this property,” Shaffer said. “I’ve always loved the architecture in here. I love the granite walls and the bar. It just needed loving. Mick and I are do-it-yourselfers and workers, and it just seemed like a project that was more a labor of love. We repainted everything, put in new carpet and stripped the floors. We have a lot of labor in this. It just need cleaned up and freshened up.”

Building used as bank when it was built in 1876

Work to remodel the kitchen continues, and Shaffer hopes she can use the event center for luncheons, Christmas parties and other similar events.

“Our first wedding is in May. That’s our deadline for the kitchen,” she said. “We’ll be opening up the back (north doors to a parking lot). I know (parking) can get tight out in the front (around Washington Park). We built two huge bathrooms, and then we’ll open up the back walkway so we have all the parking in the back and people can filter in from there.”

Shaffer said she created the name of the event center after completing research on the building’s history. It was built in 1876 as a bank (with three vaults in the basement) in 1876. An addition was built in 1910.

“That’s why one (west) side has a granite wall, and the other (east) side has a wood wall,” she said. “You’ll notice the outside facade is just a little different because of the limestone from different eras, but they matched it all up really good. When we were trying to name it, we thought, ‘Do we bring back something with the Forum? Do we try to bring back the history of the bank?’

“Then we found an old newspaper article that said the architecture in here is called Corinthian Greek. That kind of triggered something. I always wanted to kind of reference it to love, because it is a reception hall. Well, Corinthians 13:1 is the Bible verse that starts, ‘Love is patient, love is kind.’ So it was like a light switch.”

Shaffer ready to take ‘backseat,’ concentrate on real estate business

Shaffer hired a general manager to direct the daily operations of the event center, allowing her to concentrate on her real estate business.

“Now we will take the backseat,” she said. “I have enough on my plate.”

People interested in scheduling an event should call Shaffer at 217-617-5333.