Work under way on two downtown buildings is nearing completion, and shoppers can soon expect to have two new avenues for their leisure time.
Local contractor Buz Taylor and his wife, Nancy, have purchased and are renovating both floors of a two-story East Court Square building, with the top floor becoming a rental apartment and the main floor used for business purposes not yet finalized.
And less than a block away, entrepreneur Joe Brantley is busy renovating a vacant building at the corner of West Main and South Jefferson streets for use as an ice cream, sandwich and coffee shop.
Both buildings were toured Wednesday afternoon by two state preservation officials, Kentucky Heritage Council Staff Architect Mark Dennen and Main Street Coordinator Becky Gorman, before a meeting with members of the Renaissance on Main/Main Street committee.
The Taylor building, purchased from the Caldwell County Fiscal Court for $25 in 2003, was the former home of the East Court Square Cafe.
It was donated to the county by the Max Arnold family in December 2002, along with the old Court Square Shell service station at the corner of East Court Square and Market Street.
The service station has since been torn down, and the lot is used for courthouse parking.
The restaurant building, though, was saved. Based on a recommendation by the city’s Renaissance committee, the fiscal court declared the building, more than a century old, as surplus property, and, after winning the bid, Taylor soon began planning an extensive restoration.
“It was a pigeonhole then,” he said. “It had pretty much deteriorated: you could just pull the bricks out of the side.”
Work on the building was intermittent. The task was more than Taylor could handle by himself, and he recruited crew members from his Princeton Lumber Company to help with the work during slower periods in the company’s construction schedule.
The biggest challenge, Taylor said, was repairing the building’s exterior masonry wall. Tuckpoint work stabilized that wall, and the old brick on a corner of the building was removed and remortared.
“We’ve had to repair a lot of long-term damage.”
The interior of the building had its own problems, including an array of pigeon carcasses.
“Getting it cleaned out was another big challenge,” said Taylor.
The inside was cleaned out, a new roof was put on and new plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems were installed.
The wood floor upstairs was saved, as were its original plaster walls, which were patched.
The downstairs walls were covered with sheetrock, and the building’s front and back windows were repaired.
With that work completed, the building is nearly ready for occupancy.
Taylor said the main floor’s concrete still needed to be refinished. It will be painted and designed to resemble terrazzo, he said.
The design and decoration of both floors of the building were largely the work of Nancy Taylor.
The top floor of the building will be rented as a four-room efficiency apartment.
The ground floor is being shopped to individuals interested in opening a business there.
Prospects and proposals thus far have included a restaurant, a legal or professional office, a coffeeshop, a fitness/yoga center, a photography studio, an art gallery and others.
Taylor said he would be able to commit to a rental price for the apartment and a client for the downstairs section in a few weeks, if the interest remains.
The incentive to restore the building, he added, came from an appreciation of the work done by other local preservationists, such as Ann Kimmel and Phyllis Robertson.
“I just wanted to do my share,” he said, citing a desire to give back to the community that has supported his family and their business for many years.
He also pointed to the work of Mike and Gale Cherry to restore the Capitol Theater and other downtown buildings. “They kind of gave us the incentive,” he said.
The city’s historic downtown buildings, with businesses on the ground floor and apartments above, are beginning to shine, through efforts of some preservation-minded entrepreneurs.
“It took many years, but they kind of picked up from some of our ancestors,” said Taylor, “and you can see what’s happened.
“I think more will come about, thanks to the people who laid the groundwork.”
Brantley’s business, which he hopes to open in June, will be known as the Memory Lane Creamery, a throwback to the ice cream parlors and soda shops of downtown Princeton’s past.
While the costs of Taylor’s building renovation are being offset by historic rehabilitation tax credits, Brantley’s efforts are largely personally-funded, with labor assistance provided by “Let’s Paint the Town” crew members.
“I like the old buildings,” said Brantley, “and I’ve got a daughter 17 and another 11. I thought it would give them something to do.”
Brantley, who also owns Brantley’s Furniture downtown and has a hand in other enterprises, is busy purchasing equipment and renovating the building, which has, in its history, housed a clothing store, a television and appliance business, a martial arts studio and others.
Brantley said he bought equipment from two Baskin-Robbins ice cream franchises and has “double the equipment to do it all.”
He hopes to offer between 50 and 60 flavors there. “You can’t dabble in anything,” he said.
In addition to the ice cream, Brantley plans to set up a coffeeshop under the same roof, offering high-end brews from Barnie’s Gourmet Coffee and Tea.
The coffeeshop will occupy one corner of the business, he said.
“This town needs a coffeeshop,” said Dennen. “It’s great for downtown.”
The business will also offer sandwiches from its kitchen area. Lunch will be served seven days a week, and Brantley said he was working with the Market Street Bakery and Cafe to offer their doughnuts and pastries every morning.
Getting the building into shape is the main task at hand. “Right now, it’s just been a handful,” he said.
The building’s drop ceiling was removed, revealing a pressed-tin ceiling above. Its floor covering was also removed, exposing the wood floor underneath.
Brick work around the storefront was restored, and two of its arched side windows have been uncovered and repaired.
The building’s heating system is operational, and work on the kitchen area is expected to start next week, Brantley said.
And there is more to calling the business the Memory Lane Creamery than just a name.
Brantley showed Dennen and Gorman several historic photographs of the building and surrounding Main Street properties during their stop here, and those pictures and others from the city’s past will line the walls there.
Glenn E. Martin Genealogy Library employees are assisting in locating such images.
The displays may be changed seasonally, Brantley said. Chalkboard signs and other artifacts will serve to complete the vision.
“That’s the kind of excitement I like to see,” said local Renaissance on Main/Main Street Manager Sam Koltinsky. “Someone getting into their building.”
Brantley’s ideas for the building are also sound, said Dennen.
“He’s got a good business plan; he’s following through with the economic plan too … that’s your next step,” he said.
Economic restructuring is one of the four points emphasized in the state’s guidelines for downtown revitalization.
