Twenty-four new windows are being installed at the historic building that houses Southern Exposure and Arsha’s House of Flowers at Ninth and Main streets downtown.
“Some of them were boarded up, so it’s going to make nice lighting,” said Tony Kirves, who owns Southern Exposure.
The work, by Long Pond Vinyl Windows, a Pembroke business, began late last week and continued Monday. Twenty of the windows are at the second floor on Kirves’ side of the building, and the other four are upstairs at the floral shop.
Earlier this year, Kirves and florist Arsha Battah also had the roof repaired and sealed to stop leaks.
Kirves estimated he has invested $46,000 to $47,000 in the building with the roof, the windows and a new awning. He’s eligible to receive $20,000 from the city of Hopkinsville’s 50-50 Matching Grant Incentive Program.
Building owners are eligible for a grant up to $20,000 to cover improvements if their property has an apartment, or $15,000 if there is not an apartment. There is one apartment above Kirves’ photo studio.
“As soon as all this is done, I have a tenant ready,” he said.
Built in the mid-1880s, the Kirves-Battah building was originally home to First National Bank. In the 1890s, it also had the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph on the second floor. Later it housed pharmacies, including Higgins Drug Store and its popular tea room.
In May, Kirves celebrated his 30th anniversary in the building.
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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.
