Two downtown investors recently purchased the historic Racket Store building at 10thand Main streets and hope to make an announcement soon about a new restaurant tenant for the Hopkinsville landmark.
“It’s hard to walk in there and not fall in love with the building,” said Taylor Thieke, who purchased the property with his brother-in-law Tyler Young.
The brick, stone and terra cotta building was constructed in 1894 and first housed a variety shop called the Racket Store. It was later a harness shop and hardware store. The name of an early proprietor, F.A. Yost, is still legible on the 10th Street of the three-story building.
From about 1950 to 1980, it was a Western Auto store, operated by Jim Noland.
Since 1982, the building has housed nine different restaurants. The first one, Bartholomew’s, had the longest tenure at 15 years.
In 2009, the site helped launch the popular Harper House, which later moved to a new, larger facility in Cadiz.
Most recently, Black Patch Steak and Seafood had a brief run in the building. It closed late last year.
Dave Norris, a Florida businessman who had owned the building since 2002 and ran a restaurant there called Timmons for a few years, sold it to Thieke and Young.
The new owners believe the right restaurant tenant can be successful in the building. It has an aesthetic draw for people who want a place to have a nice meal in downtown Hopkinsville, said Young.
The restaurant’s kitchen, bar and dining room – along with a mezzanine – are on the main floor. The second floor is banquet space, and the third floor is a residence. The building has about 13,500 square feet.
Most of the work that the building needs to open up again is cosmetic, said Young.
The first priority is leasing the main floor to a restaurant, the owners said. Later, they will rehab the third floor and create two loft apartments that could be permanent rental property or Airbnb-type rentals.
The building’s condition and stature fit with the ambition Young and Thieke have to help revive downtown. Last November, they purchased the Pennyroyal Building at 11th and Main streets, and a few other downtown properties sold at auction for the Cayce family.
“That’s part of our plan … to try to restore downtown,” Thieke 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.
