A two-block section of South Main Street was closed for several hours Thursday while construction workers demolished another section of the Holland Opera House.
Large plumes of dust rose from the partially razed building as a worker operating an excavator maneuvered the machinery’s massive bucket to punch and scoop at the brick walls and framed interior.
With the building sliced down the middle on the back side, the interior had the look of a disheveled dollhouse. It appeared the exterior walls were five bricks thick.
A worker on the ground sprayed water from a fire hose in an attempt to tamp down the dust. A musty smell rose in the air.
Features of the building had been hidden for decades behind a mid-century facade on the upper level facing Main Street, but some of those details briefly resurfaced after layers of shiny metal were peeled back.
This included several 10-pane windows — which few people living in Hopkinsville today had ever seen — on the front of the second story. By early afternoon, the windows were disappearing into a heap below.
Also gone was an inscription at the top of the building. For a couple of days this week, a person on the street could almost make out the words: “Forbes & Gant Builders. Sept. 1, 1882.” The opera house originally had three stories, and an auditorium on the top floor could seat 800 people. The first movies shown in Hopkinsville were seen here.
A small group of bystanders — including Christian County Historian William T. Turner and Mayor James R. Knight Jr. — stood in the street and watched as the excavator smashed down more sections of the front wall.
Turner brought a disposable camera and shot photos from the front and back of the building. Knight reminisced about shooting billiards many years ago in the building next to the opera house. That structure, Lee’s Game Room, came down last week.
Both of the buildings were condemned when an engineer advising the city said they had serious structural issues. On Feb. 16, Hopkinsville City Council approved razing the properties.
After Lee’s Game Room was demolished, city officials confirmed that the adjacent Boyd’s Boutique & Bridal building would need major construction to replace the exterior wall it shared with the game room.
And on the opposite end of this row of buildings between Eighth and Ninth streets is the old Phoenix Hotel property, which was deemed unsafe for occupancy in January and awaits a decision by its owner to either present a plan for making it stable or have it demolished.
A narrow alley separates the Phoenix from the last section of the opera house that was still standing when workers called it a day Thursday afternoon. Hopkinsville Fire Chief Steve Futrell previously told Hoptown Chronicle that the demolition crew is aware of the potential for some of the opera house debris to hit the Phoenix. They want to avoid causing any damage to the Phoenix, he said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
