Dalton—At its most recent meeting in May, the board of directors of the Carpet & Rug Institute voted to sell the CRI headquarters building located at 730 
College Drive here. The building is set to be purchased by neighboring Dalton State College, which has plans to expand its campus. The 15,506 square-foot CRI headquarters building was built in 1971 and was designed by Derthick and Henley Architects of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
CRI will move into the old post office at 100 S. Hamilton St. The building previously served as the central office for Dalton Public Schools and is now owned by the city of Dalton. The move is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2012.
CRI President Werner Braun said the CRI board was excited about giving the college more space since it is “landlocked,” with mountains to the west, I-75 to the east and limited space to the north and south. Moving will allow CRI to “reduce its environmental footprint,” which is what the industry has also focused on, Braun said.
“We have a lot of space here, a lot more than we need for the number of people that we have,” Braun said. “Being able to move into a building that is right-sized for the number of folks we and the chamber have, we’ll reduce our environmental footprint and in addition to that, it will reduce our energy costs.”