(Editor’s Note: Kate Russell, founder of Hopkinsville Brewing Co., wrote the following letter to Mayor James R. Knight Jr. and to the 12 members of Hopkinsville City Council.)
Dear Mayor Knight and members of City Council,
I just found out about the plan to demolish the Blue Streak [Printers] building. As someone who lives in a historic home on Latham Avenue and has invested a lot of time and money into two buildings downtown (102 and 106 E. 5th Street), I am horrified that yet another downtown building is set for demolition without being given a chance to be saved.
When I bought my first downtown building in 2015, there wasn’t much happening downtown. In fact, the only other retail establishment at ‘my’ end of downtown was Young Hardware. I used to push my kids’ stroller down South Main Street and look at the dilapidated buildings and think, “I wish someone would do something with these buildings.”
When I had the opportunity to open a small business, I realized that *I* could be that ’someone.’ The thing is, breweries require specific infrastructure, from the electricity to the plumbing to the slope of the concrete floors. At that time, developers were building strip malls on the bypass — it would have been so much faster and easier (and cheaper) to open Hopkinsville Brewing Company in one of them.
But the one thing developers can’t build is character, and every building downtown has that quality in spades. I bought a small building that was completely unsuited for what I needed it to do — so I gutted it. The only structure still standing from the day I bought the building are the four exterior walls — from the roof to the concrete floor, the rest of the building has been redone. It was exhausting and frustrating at times, but it was worth every moment of construction.
At 1,800 square feet, 102 E. 5th Street was meant to be a proof of concept. I had no idea if the community would support my vision of “Starbucks, but with beer,” especially since downtown was considered by so many to be dead.
Much to my surprise, by 2018, we had outgrown our tiny building and started looking forward to expansion. This time, a local developer came to me and offered to build me a facility outside of downtown. I toured the site and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. But in the end, I decided that our downtown location far outweighed any bells and whistles that someone could build me. It took another year of negotiating with my neighbor to purchase his building and an additional year of renovations, but we were finally able to open our expansion in 2020.
And — even knowing what I know now — I would do it all again.
I hear from my customers all the time that they love that small business owners have given them a reason to take pride in and visit downtown. They love seeing that old buildings have been saved and repurposed — over its years of existence, 102 E. 5th Street [Hopkinsville Brewing Co.’s location] has been most notably a service station and barber shop. I have several customers who fondly recall sitting in the backseat while their dads pumped gas, or getting their hair cut by the same barber for years. Years from now, when I’ve retired and my buildings are converted to another use, I hope my current customers tell the new owners they have great memories of meeting friends and listening to live music at the brewery.
I believe that, given the chance, Blue Streak could be converted into an amazing space that will attract more visitors to downtown. We don’t need another empty lot or — God forbid — another parking lot or garage. Those things don’t attract visitors, inspire pride in the local populace, or give other entrepreneurs a reason to open a small business downtown.
In closing, I respectfully request that Blue Streak be given the same consideration as the train station — please allow a private entity to purchase and rehabilitate the building into something in which our community can take pride.
Thank you for your time,
Kate Russell
Founder/Brewer
Hopkinsville Brewing Company
102 E. 5th Street
Kate Russell is the founder and co-owner of Hopkinsville Brewing Co. A U.S. Army veteran, she earned a graduate certificate in brewing science and operations at Auburn University.
