Plymouth’s Small Town Main Street Committee meets at 6 p.m. tonight to discuss a business plan for the Armistead House and the betterment of the community.

The meeting will be held at the Washington County Cultural Arts Building at 106, West Water St., Plymouth. The panel is expected to discuss recommendations regarding its work related to market conditions and the retail-business climate.

According to Willie Drye, a committee representative and a writer for National Geographic’s online division, the Armistead House’s purported role in history as a stop on the Underground Railroad has come into question in recent months. The house, eventually, will become an Underground Railroad museum after restoration work is completed.

“We put together a work plan for the coming year,” he said. “We’re going to be discussing that as well as talking with the Braye family who will be donating the Armistead House.”

Drye said Braye family members have come from Alabama to attend the meeting to further discuss converting the Armistead House into a museum, as well as the house’s future from that point on.

Drye said the town is closer to receiving the 501(c)3 designation for the restoration-museum project, which will allow the town to seek tax-free donations for the project.

“We’re not likely to receive any larger chunks of money unless we can get tax-free money,” he said. “I hope that we will be able to get it very soon.”

Since the town set up a special fund at Southern Bank, specifically for the Armistead House, it has been receiving donations.

Reed Thomas, a preservation specialist with the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources who has visited the house, is interested in converting it into a museum.

Drye said the committee is planning a Community Cleanup Day in Plymouth so town residents and others may participate in and take pride in their community.

“The town will set up a couple portable dumpsters so residents can dump things that they don’t want anymore,” he said.

Drye said the committee will capture a portion of potential retail sales by increasing availability of identified retail products, increasing marketing, expanding existing stores offering the products and adding new stores.

The committee also wants to protect and maintain existing residential areas adjacent to downtown, working with local property owners to develop quality upper-floor housing projects.

The committee also will discuss real estate and availability, physical environment conditions, financing, as well as business and development assistance.