Hopkinsville City Council has a special meeting at 6 p.m Tuesday to discuss a second inspection of the Blue Streak building by a structural engineer.
The meeting could result in a vote to demolish the East Ninth Street building, despite assurances from Mayor James R. Knight Jr. just a week ago in a council meeting that he did not want to see the building torn down. The city owns the building, and Knight said he would prefer to see it sold to a private investor willing to repair the structure.
But after last week’s meeting, city officials called on structural engineer Kelly Gardner to return for another look at the building. He conducted his second inspection Friday, and a written report was quickly provided to council members.
Second inspection declares ‘imminent danger of collapse’
“Based on the conditions observed today, it is my professional opinion that the building located at 116 East 9th Street is not only unsafe for occupancy or use but is in imminent danger of collapse and poses a serious health and safety risk to the public,” Gardner wrote.
On Saturday, Knight spoke about the findings with Hoptown Chronicle.
“He got up in the attic, took pictures of all the broken rafters and things that are broken and rotted away,” Knight said. “And he pointed out how the walls were bulging out on the building.”
The second inspection report provided a more extensive look at the building than the first inspection. That report was filed on Oct. 16.
A mechanical lift was used in the second inspection to provide a closer look at areas that apparently could not be seen in the first inspection, said Knight.
Downtown’s changing face
Built around 1912, the building previously housed two different movie theater operations. Later it became a printing business for Alfred P. “Bobo” Cravens, who died Sept. 23, 2023.
Cravens also owned the Phoenix Building adjacent to his print shop, and he owned the Holland Opera House building next to the Phoenix. City officials condemned the vacant Phoenix and Holland Opera House, following inspections by Gardner. A lengthy legal dispute between the city and Cravens’ son, Al Cravens, ensued.
The resolution reached in Christian Circuit Court included a requirement that Al Cravens pay to have the Phoenix razed. The city contracted for demolition of Holland Opera House and another building, Lee’s Game Room, which the Cravens family did not own.
The 140-year-old Holland Opera House came down in March 2023. The Phoenix, originally a hotel and later home to a series of businesses and professional offices, was demolished in November 2023.
The elder Cravens had retired and was no longer working in the Blue Streak building at the time city officials began looking at the condition of the Phoenix and the Holland Opera House. But no action was taken concerning the condition of the Blue Streak building until more recently.
The city purchased the Cravens’ properties, including the former site of the Phoenix and the Holland Opera House, along with Blue Streak, about a month ago for $500,000, said Knight. He said the city will seek proposals from buyers willing to construct a new building on the now vacant lot. He said he does not want to see a green space or a parking lot on the site.
Outcry builds over Blue Streak’s fate
The fate of the Blue Streak building has prompted several local residents to push city officials to save Blue Streak.
In response, Ward 6 Councilman Travis Martin said community members do not have an appetite for losing any more of downtown’s historic buildings. He urged the mayor at the Oct. 21 meeting to find a way to sell the building to a private developer.
The next morning — two days before the second inspection was conducted — Martin wrote in a Facebook post that the mayor intended to have Blue Streak razed.
Martin wrote: “Citizens of Hopkinsville … if you have any interests in our historical buildings downtown you should be paying attention. The mayor of Hopkinsville wants the Blue Streak Building torn down ASAP. Here’s his next steps. The building will be deemed an immediate danger to public safety and ordered to be torn down. City Hall is trying to do all they can legally to get around council approval. I’m done with their games!”
Asked about Martin’s criticism of him, Knight said, “It was not my intention to have this building tore down.”
There are liability issues that city council will have to consider, said Knight, adding that the city’s insurer and the fire marshal could weigh in.
Kate Russell, founder and co-owner of Hopkinsville Brewing Co., was among advocates for saving Blue Streak. On the same day Martin published his Facebook post, Russell began seeking signatures — through an online petition — from residents who oppose demolishing the building. As of late Monday night, it had more than 300 signatures.
After the city announced its special meeting to consider the engineer’s second report, she commented on Facebook about her frustration with city officials in light of the likelihood Blue Streak would be demolished.
“I am beyond angry. Yes, the building needed help but it was not unfixable. It didn’t need anything that we didn’t do to HBC ten years ago,” she said, referencing the work needed to establish the brewery in the old building it occupies on Fifth Street. “Remember this come election time. This administration would rather demolish … Hopkinsville’s history than put the effort into saving it — or even allowing a private citizen to do it.”
There are two items on the agenda for Tuesday’s special council meeting — a report on the Blue Streak building and an ordinance to authorize “emergency demolition” of the building.
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.
