The city of Hopkinsville will pay East Construction Co. $388,110 to demolish two condemned commercial buildings in the center of downtown.
In a special meeting Thursday night that lasted less than 30 minutes, Hopkinsville City Council unanimously approved the contract. It is part of an emergency declaration that City Attorney Doug Willen said allowed the city to bypass a competitive bidding process.
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The adjacent properties, Lee’s Game Room and the old Holland Opera House, are on South Main Street between Eighth and Ninth streets. The Hopkinsville Fire Department condemned the properties after a structural engineer inspected the buildings on Jan. 24. Kelly Gardner, of Owensboro, wrote in reports to the city that the two buildings had “severe structural issues” and should be “demolished immediately.”
Holland Opera House, constructed around 1880, has been vacant for several years. Lee’s Game Room, which the engineer estimated was about 100 years old, was a pool hall open to the public until several weeks ago.
“These buildings are too far gone to repair,” Fire Chief Steve Futrell told council members. “Two days ago, there were … homeless people in these buildings. People are going in every day.”
Willen said the council needed to take immediate action to “prevent public harm.”
The owners of Lee’s Game Room — Stacy Jennings, Jared Kemp, Stephanie Humphries and Cynthia Kemp — asked the fire department to take a look at the building, said Futrell. They have since signed a legal agreement that will deed the property to the city and protect them from an obligation to pay for the demolition.
Bobo Cravens, who owns the old opera house, has not signed an agreement with the city. His son, Al Cravens, is handling his affairs. Their attorney, Ken Humphries, attended the council meeting.
The council voted 10-0 in favor of the emergency declaration ordinance and demolition contract, and also voted unanimously on a municipal order allowing Mayor James R. Knight Jr. to sign agreements with the property owners. Council members did not comment or ask any questions during the meeting. (Council members Donald Marsh and Doug Wilcox were absent.)
After the meeting, Humphries said he wasn’t sure what his clients would do about the city’s decision to demolish their building. He said the city’s approach was a denial of due process and contends the city is being hasty. He acknowledged there are problems with the back of the opera house building but said “some boarding and fencing would take care of that.”
The back of the building is adjacent to the city hall parking lot.
The contract with East Construction, a Hopkinsville company, lists the cost for demolition of each building — $97,027.50 for Lee’s Game Room at 806 S. Main St., and $291,082.50 for Holland Opera House at 808, 810 and 812 S. Main St.
The two buildings sit between the former Boyd’s Bridal building and the Phoenix Hotel building. Both are vacant with the exception of one office space in the Phoenix where Humphries has his practice. He is in the process of moving to a new location downtown. The Phoenix building is also condemned and deemed unsafe for occupation, but it has not been tagged for demolition.
East Construction will be responsible for erecting a fence to provide a barrier around the demolition site, according to the contract. The contract does not list a start date but says that once work begins it will be “continuous until completion.”
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.
