We are very excited about this article in the Lexington Herald-Leader. We just want to clarify the statement that opens the article. There certainly were things happening on Main Street at the point in which I was counting cars. Loch Lea Antiques, Frames on Main, and Paris Antique Mall among others were doing a good business and had been for several years. I was commenting on lunch traffic in my statement, at that time there were not many people eating downtown at lunch. Paris has always had lots going on, that is why we chose to come here and be a part of it. Over the last two years we have watched a major change happen on Main Street and we are excited to be part of the Main Street community. Thanks, Steve Walton
Renovations draw crowds to downtown Paris
By Jillian Ogawa
PARIS — Before Steve Walton helped open a café downtown, he counted cars and pedestrian traffic in front of 509 Main Street during lunchtime.
He was worried about what he saw.
"It was nothing," Walton recalled. "There really wasn't much traffic here at that particular point, and I got real nervous about it. I thought, ‘Well, there's nobody out. "
Vardens café opened anyway, in August 2006. Almost two years later, the parking lot across from the restaurant is packed and vehicles line the street during lunchtime.
The restaurants success is part of a renaissance in downtown Paris, once plagued by empty storefronts. In the last two years, 15 buildings have been renovated into restaurants, antiques stores, a residence and a church. Six others are being renovated, said Linda Stubblefield, director of Paris Main Street program.
"You have more people involved with the downtown area, which makes it more alive," said Stubblefield, the tourism director for the city and Bourbon County.
Inside Vardens, most of the tables in the front room aractivity in the historic 1891 George S. Varden Drug Store buildine filled. Chatter from patrons echoes in the restaurant, creating a buzz of of activity in the historic 1891 George S. Varden Drug Store building.
"People were hungry for something to do," said Walton, who manages the restaurant owned by Phillip and Trudy Tibbs of Lexington. "We had this instant great response."
Other renovated buildings include the 1854-55 Odd Fellows Hall, now Migdalias restaurant; and the 1872 Charles S. Brent Jr./Robert P. Dow Building, a former grocery store that is now a three-story loft residence.
Paris native Hardy Dungan, 50, said he had been attracted to downtown Paris since he was young. Dungan, who bought the Brent/Dow building at 205 Main Street two years ago, said he remembers when "all the farm families came to town on Saturday mornings."
But by the time he headed off to college, most of downtowns department stores and movie theaters had closed or moved.
"You had a lot of open storefronts and buildings in total disrepair, and its been that way for a number of years," he said.
Dungan turned the Brent/Dow building from "an open shell" into a plush three-story loft plus a basement that includes a gourmet kitchen, a freight elevator where the original shaft used to be, and other historic furnishings. Each floor is about 2,300 square feet.
He has used his residence to help promote downtown revitalization.
"Were seeing a lot of empty storefronts downtown being purchased and being renovated," said Dungan, who is on the Main Street Revitalization Committee. "Its getting people in downtown, and people can see what you can do downtown."
When Amy Carpenter-Aich and Nadir Aich bought the 1854-55 Odd Fellows Building at auction in 2002, it was in terrible condition. Flooring was rotting, windows were broken and a portion of the roof was missing on the third floor.
One of the structural beams had so much water damage that "the building was starting to lean and there was concern that the building was going to go," Carpenter-Aich said.
"It was basically a pigeons hole; it was in horrible shape," she said.
It took four years for them to renovate the building into Migdalias, a fine dining restaurant named after Carpenter-Aichs late mother-in-law. The restaurant is on the first floor and the two top floors hold banquet and reception halls.
According to the book Historic Architecture of Bourbon County Kentucky, the Odd Fellows meetings were held on the third floor. In 1879, the second floor housed an opera house and later was a public hall.
Across from Migdalias is Vardens, which opened about five months before Migdalias. Pharmacist George S. Varden had owned the building for more than 60 years. The café retained the name to give a "nod to its past," Walton said.
The café still has the original cabinets Varden made from mahogany he imported from South Africa. One of the cabinets contains a display of the drugstores original items, including bottles of tonics and Vardens medical notes.
The restaurant owners and Dungan say several factors have influenced downtowns revitalization.
Walton said the downturn in the economy has made people take more day trips to see places nearby. Dungan said downtown events have drawn people to the area. Façade and restoration grants have also encouraged people to renovate historic buildings, he said.
"You want everybody to be successful … you are just excited that people are in Paris," Walton said. "We know that our success is tied to each others success."
Carpenter-Aich said the expansion of Paris Pike to a four-lane divided highway also has made Paris more accessible. "I think it was a number of means that came together and started a spark," she said. "I think everyone realizes the potential that Paris has."
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