The owners of Ferrell’s Snappy Service will begin repairs to the downtown hamburger restaurant that was closed by a fire after receiving approval Thursday from the Local Development Corp. for a $15,000 matching grant.
(Photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
The LDC board received a favorable recommendation from the Community and Development Services staff and voted unanimously to OK the grant application. It falls under the Downtown Hopkinsville 50-50 Grant Incentive Program.
Owners Phillip and Carolyn Ferrell’s application estimates the repairs will cost $97,839.
“It was a difficult decision to decide at our age whether to reopen,” said Carolyn Ferrell, who attended the meeting. She and her husband are 71.
Phillip Ferrell survives his parents, who opened the restaurant in 1936. It is one of Hopkinsville’s oldest and most iconic businesses.
Holly Boggess, executive director of the Downtown Renaissance Program, presented the restaurant’s grant application to the four LDC members present – Peg Hays, Janet Calhoun, Derrick Watson and Brandon Oldham.
Boggess noted the restaurant’s exterior, including the green tile roof and sign, will not be changed by the repairs.
The building at 10thand Main streets is 647 square feet.
Carolyn Ferrell joked that her husband had feared his mother would come back to haunt him if he didn’t reopen the restaurant.
“It just wasn’t right to not bring it back,” she said.
Ferrell said they applied for the grant because their insurance did not cover all of the repair costs.
Construction should begin this month, and they hope to reopen by Thanksgiving, she said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
