County inspector condemns long-vacant historic building; owner has 20 days to appeal, 30 to fix up

116 E. Main St. once housed an African American men's organization.

By Midway Messenger staff
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Woodford County building inspector has condemned the old, long-vacant Odd Fellows lodge at 116 E. Main St., at the suggestion of Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, the mayor announced today.

The building's owner, Ness Alamdari of Lexington, will have 20 days to appeal to the county Planning and Zoning Commission. Alamdari did not respond immediately to a phone call and voicemail seeking comment.

The letter from Building Inspector Joshua Stevens to Alamdari cited 10 issues and gave him 30 days to correct them and "obtain a letter from a licensed Kentucky engineer certifying that the structure of the building is not in danger of collapse and does not pose a threat to public safety. If an engineer letter is not obtained and a building permit not obtained for the above listed corrections, an order of demolition will be needed."

Vandegrift said in an email to the City Council and the news media that he asked Stevens several months ago to thoroughly inspect the building and consider condemnation.

“My paramount concern was the building's deteriorated condition and the safety threats it poses to the public,” he wrote. “Large metal items, some quite heavy, have already fallen from the structure to the sidewalk below. The building has also become a haven for rodents and is an attractive, and therefore dangerous, nuisance to children as well.”

The mayor told the Messenger in another email, “If the owner continues non-cooperation with the city, and I hope he decides to work with us, we would take any and all measures to make sure the order by Mr. Stevens is carried out. I’d much rather be in this position than talking to someone with a microphone and a camera about a serious injury sustained in downtown Midway.”

If Alamdari does not appeal, and doesn't demolish the building, the city can do the work and place a lien against the property to recover its costs. Alamdari also faces a fine of $25 to $100 per day for each of the 10 violations.

Vandegrift said he would take no pleasure in seeing an historic structure be torn down, but “I have been inside the building and like so many others have watched as time and weather continue to deteriorate it, and I came to believe that condemnation is the only solution.”

The building, which dates to 1898, was built by the Pilgrim Lodge, an African American men's organization.

Bill Penn, a historian who has a gift shop a few doors down from the building, told the Messenger, “I’d rather it be restored, but . . . if the owner isn’t going to restore it, it’s called demolition by neglect.” He added, “I’m disappointed it can’t be saved, but I understand the situation.”

Still, in a way, the old building with the peaked roof in front will be missed. “When a train comes into town from the east, that’s the first thing you see [from it], so it’ll be a gap,” Penn said. He said the building's last occupant was an antique clothing store, 15 to 20 years ago.

The building is one of the most prominent examples of blighted property in Midway, due to its downtown location and severe condition.

This is the first condemnation order issued since 2013, and the first following the City Council's recent creation of the Code Enforcement Board, to which the city could take the matter if the Planning Commission ruled against its own building inspector.

Asked why he didn't wait until the city has its own code enforcement officer, who will soon give the board cases to handle, Vandegrift said, “I’ve been so worried about this causing serious injury that I decided to take a 'try everything' approach, which started with private conversations with the owner. When I wrote the letter requesting condemnation be considered, I didn’t yet know if our new ordinances would be successful, but figured if they were passed and we didn’t succeed in this route with the building inspector then we’d have a Plan B.”

He said Stevens “did a thing that is not easy to do, both technically and demonstratively, but he did the right thing, and I hope this sends a message to others that we want to work with you on getting your properties in order. We’re sending no one to the poor house. But if properties are ignored at the peril of others, we’re serious about taking action.”

Mayor and wife see 'two Midways' that need to talk

By Grayson and Katie Vandegrift

Even though we don’t talk about it much, virtually everyone who lives in our community is aware of the notion of “Old Midway” and “New Midway.” Perhaps not by coincidence, one could argue that Midway is at the same time getting both older and younger; in a word, it’s changing. This can understandably lead to tension, which seems to bubble up to the surface in our public discourse from time to time.

Since its very beginning our city has seen great change, and the citizens who helped lead us through prior times deserve immense recognition and praise. Those who’ve known Midway most or all their lives have a sense of history so important and precious that it is rightfully being preserved in a Midway Branch Library recorded series, in a newly revitalized Museum project, and now on social media sites. Within the last few decades Midway has also welcomed more and more folks who’ve adopted this city as their own. Now it seems that participation from newer citizens in civic leadership and government are at an all-time high in our city and in many other cities across the country.

There are those who feel that they will never be truly welcomed by some because they came here, and there are others who feel that these newcomers, familiar and well-meaning as they are, can never be truly “of” Midway. As dismayed as we’ve sometimes been by certain comments, it’s understandable why some people who were born here feel that the town is now being run by those who were not.

In the world we live in, where information can be shared with a click, it’s undoubtedly easier for it to feel like the spotlight shines on recent accomplishments while the foundations that got us here hide in shadow. It’s no mystery why this could create resentment.

But it could be that there is a fundamental misunderstanding between these “two Midways,” that somehow our interests are not aligned. Both “new” and “old” Midway have at times felt aggrieved by the other, but out of communication comes understanding.

We all want the same things. We all want our city to thrive and prosper. We all want Midway to be a great place to raise our children, to take care of our parents, and to one day be taken care of ourselves. We all want Midway to continue being the greatest town anywhere. While we feel that our city is more united than most, and that we’re working together better than most, it would be willfully ignorant to assume that there are not resentments that need reconciliation.

Regardless of your beliefs or political affiliation, we all know this country is divided. The country is not going to heal itself from the top down, but from the ground up. We have to heal our communities, one by one, as a patchwork, to truly unite this nation once again. Midway has always been a leader. From its very inception as a city until the present day, history shows that Midway, Kentucky, has always been ahead of the curve.

Let’s lead yet again. Let’s talk about what does divide our community; let’s not ignore it or pretend it isn’t there. Let’s heal wounds that have been left untreated. We have so many mechanisms in place already to have good conversations: the post office, the corner grocery, city council meetings, monthly community dinners at Midway Christian Church, and the various other events and gatherings that occur throughout the year. We have to talk to each other face-to-face again, and the easiest way to do that is in our own communities. From there, who knows where the conversation goes, but it’s a good way to be reminded that at the most basic level we’re neighbors, and we agree much more often than not.

Grayson Vandegrift is mayor of Midway; Katie Vandegrift is a marketing and administrative assistant at Commerce Lexington, that city's chamber of commerce.

Sellout crowd hears and sees the history of Holly Hill Inn

Artifacts old and recent were on display, many atop Desdemona "Mama Des" Parrish's quilt. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Story and photos by Lauren McCally
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
               Holly Hill Inn celebrated its 20th year under Chef Ouita Michel and her husband, Chris, Saturday morning with an event called “Up Home” about the history of the building that was a home, an inn and now a restaurant.

               “Welcome to Holly Hill Inn,” speaker Bob Rouse told the sellout crowd. “And while you’re here, consider yourself up home,” which Rouse’s father and grandmother often called the place.

               The event began with a lunch by Michel that included Nat’s Naples fish chowder and poached chicken. Dessert was angel food cake with custard and boiled icing. Then guests were able to walk around the dining area and see artifacts that belonged to Rouse and Perry’s great-grandmother. Then everyone went into the main dining room for a presentation on the history of the Inn, talks of ghost sightings, and a little bit of family history from Rouse and his sister, Amy Rouse Perry.

               Holly Hill Inn began as Stevenson’s Tavern, a building closer to Leestown Road. The first post office in the area was established here as Stevenson’s, and was renamed Midway when the town was established in 1837. In the early 1840s, after the tavern burned down, Handcock Davis built the first few sections of the modern layout of what eventually became the Holly Hill Inn.

Bob Rouse and his sister, Amy Rouse Perry, discussed the history of the house.

               “Mr. Davis built, we believe, three rooms facing Leestown Road: the present-day kitchen, dining room, and front entry hall,” Rouse said. “The main entrance would have been on the north side of the house, facing Leestown Road, not where the front door is today,” on the west side.

               Davis sold the building to Squire William A. Moore and his wife Mary in 1854. Moore was the president of the Midway Paper Mill Co. and a magistrate on the Woodford County Fiscal Court.  After he died, she lived in the house until it was sold to Isaac Parrish, officially becoming the Parrish family home, in 1903.

               “Amy and I are part of the sixth generation of Parrishes to live in and around Midway, and we can tell you a lot about the Ike Parrish family that lived here beginning in the early 1900s because their oldest daughter created a rather detailed journal later in her life,” Rouse said. “Now, many families at the turn of the century had similar life experiences. We’re not saying the Parrish family was extraordinary; it’s just our family.”

               The writer of that journal was Honeywood Parrish Rouse. Her first name came from her great-aunt, Adelia Honeywood Bailey, the woman who took in Rouse and Perry’s great-grandmother Desdemona, her brother Jim and sister Katherine “Nat” Parrish when their mother died.

               “Honeywood was our paternal grandmother, who we called Honey. She was a Southern matriarch, community leader, historian, entertainer, and party girl, all rolled into one,” said Rouse. “She was also a stay-at-home writer who penned toast and notes for her neighbors. ”

               The family was known for their happy home and great hospitality. “On any given night, no one would know how many people would be at their supper table until they were about to be seated,” Rouse said. “Visitors came often, and one night stays might stretch into days or even weeks.”

               In 1922, Honeywood Parrish married Howard Rouse and moved into the town of Midway, where she died at the age of 92 in 1990.

                “She never lost sight of her childhood home, especially when she passed it every time  she visited her grandchildren, whose house is on the grounds of the old apple orchard,” Rouse told the crowd.

               In 1979, Isaac Parrish's grandson Ike and his wife Jean converted the home into a “modern country inn,” according to the Holly Hill Inn website.

               It was the year 2000 when the Inn came into the possession of the Michels, by luck. At the time, Rouse was interviewing Ouita for a magazine article about a Lexington restaurant she helped run, Emmett’s on Tates Creek Road.

               Michel and Rouse told the Messenger in 2014 that when he told her, “You must love this place, you’ll never leave it,” she replied, “Well, I do love it, But I’d only ever leave it for the Holly Hill Inn in Midway.”

               What she didn’t know was that Rouse and his family had started talking that very week about needing to sell the inn. They did, and Rouse said in 2014, “I consider that the greatest thing I've ever done for this community.”

               Then Ouita began seeing ghosts, and that provided one of the most interesting parts of the program. Rouse said she saw a vague image of a young man standing at the kitchen door and a face in a window above the kitchen. In 2009, she and Perry had a husband-and-wife team of ghost hunters try to add context to the sightings. The face in the window turned out to be Tom, Jim’s cousin, who used to come and visit.

               Perry recalled that one ghost hunter “spelled out ‘What’s your first name and did you live here?’ They didn’t live here, but they visited here, so we figured that it was Jim’s cousin, who would have visited here.”

               There have been so many real-life visitors to the Inn in the last 20 years that it became the start of Michel’s unique chain of eight restaurants in Lexington and Midway, serving fresh, farm-to-table food. The newest is named Honeywood.

Drone flight over Midway shows the town's old and new

By Dalton Stokes, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
(Click on arrows button, to left of Vimeo logo, to view in full-screen mode)

Midway University and Midway have grown closer in recent years, but that hasn't quite extended to students

By Akhira Umar

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway University has been around nearly as long as the town that it calls home. Despite their long-standing affiliation, the town and the university are not as intertwined as one might think.

Originally founded as the Kentucky Female Orphan School in 1847, Midway University came into existence shortly after the town’s establishment in 1835 and soon after its incorporation in 1846. The town has kept much of its original charm with quiet neighborhoods and quaint shops but has seen many changes in its businesses, organizations and downtown streetscape.

The university has seen its fair share of change as well, the most notable being its decision to go co-ed in the fall of 2016 to “remain relevant” and “financially viable.” In fall 2019, men made up 39 percent of daytime enrollment. The total enrollment of 1,702 also includes evening and online undergraduates, and graduate students.

Among the 643 daytime undergraduates, 373 lived on campus, said Ellen Gregory, the university’s vice president of marketing and communications.

These daytime students also came from all walks of life, just like the tourists who stop in town. Kentucky natives account for about 70 percent of students, while about 15 percent come from other states and the rest form foreign countries.

The university and Northside Elementary School accounted for nearly
1/3 of city occupational tax of $719,378. (City of Midway chart, adapted)

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the university is also responsible for providing the city with over $100,000 a year in payroll taxes. The school is the second largest job provider in town, behind Lakeshore Learning Materials and ahead of American Howa Kentucky Inc.

With such big numbers in a town with a population of fewer than 1,700, one might think it would greatly affect the dynamics of Midway as a whole. But these two entities, the town and the university, long followed different orbits. More recently, they have learned to change for the better together.

Prior to Dr. John P. Marsden becoming the university’s tenth president in 2013, the relationship between the town and school was rocky, according to some city officials. However, in the past six years, this relationship has more than turned itself around.

“I think with a new administration in there, Dr. Marsden’s administration, we were really able to kinda form new bonds,” Vandegrift said. ”They were the ones that really began reaching out to us as a city.”

Vandegrift was on the City Council when Marsden arrived, and was elected mayor the following year. “I think Dr. Marsden and his leadership team have taken on a lot of great initiatives and they’ve included us in all of them,” he said. “They’re also quick to include us and we’re very happy to be included and to participate.”

Some of these initiatives include a 15 percent tuition discount for Midway residents, a decision made in August 2018, and the $30,000 in softball-field renovations that the city and school partnered for in 2017. The university has helped sponsor and participate in several local events like the Midway Fall Festival and Midsummer Nights in Midway.

Sara Hicks, then the president of Midway Renaissance,
and Midway University President John Marsden signed
the contract to move Renaissance's Francisco's Farm
Arts Festival back to the campus. (2013 photo)

One of the best ways the school strengthened connections with the town was bringing the Francisco’s Farm Art Festival back to the campus in 2014. The festival, which began in 2003, is the largest event on which the town collaborates with the university. It is an award-winning, nationally recognized event, drawing thousands of visitors.

When it moved to Equus Run Vineyards three miles east of town in 2011 and remained there for three years, the Midway community felt disconnected to one of its biggest events. When the festival returned to the university, a location many said was more fitting, the community was grateful.

Gregory said the open lines of communication between the leaderships of the town and the school have made for a great relationship. “We see a strong city as good for the university, and we think vice versa—a strong university is good for the city.”

This community involvement has made some residents like librarian Stacy Thurman, who was elected to the City Council last year, even more hopeful about the city’s future. Having moved to Midway 10 years ago, she said one of the things she liked about the town was that people knew each other and did things together, making for a good sense of community.

“It wasn’t until recently that I felt like the university has had more of a presence in town,” Thurman said. “I enjoy seeing the students out and about, but I don’t think that has always been the case. I think for a long time, at least from my perspective, the university was its own little entity, then there was the town, and there wasn’t a whole lot of action.”

Although the university is more involved in community events, many in Midway still wish the students had a stronger presence in the town. The on-campus student population makes up about 20 percent of the university’s enrollment and accounts for nearly 20 percent of Midway’s residential population, yet some residents and business workers say students are rarely seen in town.

Isaac Hughes, a long-time resident of Zion Hill, a largely African American community southeast of Midway, spent much time at the school to watch games or go to parties in the 1960s, even with the racial divide and the school’s population being all women. He continues to visit the university now for its affordable, tasty meals, and says the town and university seem to exist separately.

“It’s almost like you got two separate entities, two separate towns. There’s the university, then there’s the Midway area,” he said, adding that students may have “felt like there was no connection or we didn’t really connect with you all as a community. So, I think there’s a lot that can be gained by both if there’s a connection.”

Cortney Neikirk, president of the Midway Business Association, contrasted Midway and its university with Richmond and Eastern Kentucky University. Richmond’s population is around 35,000 and EKU’s enrollment last year was estimated at 16,612. Such a large school greatly affects traffic, business and everyday life during the school year, but Midway University’s small size does not have that same effect on Midway, she said

Francisco's Farm is held in May, soon after commencement.

“We do not, as residents, notice the university being there … It’s actually super peaceful,” Neikirk said. “The university does not, technically, affect us … It’s nice having them up there because we know we have a university, but it doesn’t filter down into the residential areas. It would be sad not to have the university, but as a resident, I don’t know that I would notice them being gone … It’s not like you have students everywhere.”

Justin Werner, manager of the Goose and Gander restaurant, thinks the lack of student involvement in town comes from a lack of awareness. “A lot of times I don’t think they even realize there’s a town here,” he said. In 2018, “We did an orientation welcoming … and a lot of the students that we talked to said, ‘I didn’t even know there was a Main Street. Where’s the restaurants? Where are these things?’ So, I think that that’s where we fall short is that we don’t get out to the students enough to know what’s going on and, you know, what’s down here.”

This is not to say that the students are completely detached from the town. Everyone interviewed for this story reported nothing but positive interactions with students -- if they had any interactions at all. The students do volunteer at places like Northside Elementary, The Homeplace at Midway and the Woodford County Library. They also visit businesses downtown, just not as often as some people may like or expect.

Gregory said students low profile in town stems from how busy they are with classes, work and sports. But many students, despite liking Midway as a town, said there aren’t enough local options that appeal to them. Examples:

Junior Kwon Evans goes off campus three or four times a week, usually to Lexington, for food and entertainment. Senior Kaleb Britt leaves campus just about every day for his preferred fast food chains, like Raising Cane’s and Taco Bell. Sophomore Jill Enix leaves campus two to five times a week for Frankfort or Georgetown for fast food, shopping and movie theaters. Junior Ally Callahan goes to Versailles or Georgetown just about every day for the same reasons.

All these students lived on campus when they were interviewed last spring, and all of them said they like Midway, the supportive university facility, and the town’s friendly residents. However, if the town had more amenities tailored for them, like cheaper food and more entertainment, they might not leave as often.

“I love the fact that Midway is small, and it is very close to larger cities such as Lexington and Frankfort. I love the Kentucky scenery as well. The small downtown area is a very cute area as well,” Callahan said before adding her critique. “There are only two cheap, chain fast food restaurants here. I think if I could change that and add a couple more options for college students so it would be more convenient than driving 20 minutes to the nearest place, I would.”

The same reasons students living on campus leave town so often are the same reasons other students chose to live off campus. Sophomore Clayton Parks, who lives in Lexington, said Midway just can’t compare to all the things Lexington can offer. Senior Monica Martinez said not only is there much more to do in Lexington, but it’s also more affordable, something that senior Nathan Dodge agreed with.

Affordability is an issue many recognize in Midway. Some businesses like Goose and Gander try to combat this obstacle for students by offering them a 10 percent discount. Railroad Drug and Old Time Soda Fountain hosts a “Milkshake Mission” during finals where students can use vouchers for free milkshakes.

For students who want to live off-campus, Midway has few townhouses or apartments, let alone within a college-friendly budget. But as the university grows, so must housing options. The university recently converted Pinkerton Hall back into a dormitory to meet the student housing demand. While students may not mind commuting for food and entertainment, some like the convenience of living on campus when it comes to getting to classes, practices and games.

Vandegrift has appointed an Affordable Housing Task Force, headed by Thurman, to explore the lack of affordable housing.

The consensus from those interviewed for this story, whether they see plenty of student involvement with the community or not, is that they would always welcome more. That would undoubtedly help the local economy, and the interviewees said it would be nice to see new faces enjoying a historic town.

“I think we would like them to do more, and I don’t mean that as a way to demean what they’re already doing,” Vandegrift said. “I would say it almost as a challenge.”

He put his challenge this way: “We would like to see you all get more involved because, you know, people their age see the world in a really beautiful way and they’ve not been as hardened as the rest of us have yet. And I think we all need to be reminded of that. Experience is vital and all of us learn more, but I think we have to be reminded of the young person in all of us, that we were once like that and we wanted to change the whole world and that it’s good to want to do that. So, I think that that could be a great benefit to all of us and I think that’s true of any college town.”

The combination of having young adults of different experiences from all over the state, country and world make the university a breeding ground for growth. Midway is already a welcoming town thanks to its tourism. But to some, the opportunities the university can bring to town are unmatched and overdue.

Hughes said he wants to see the university more involved in “the way the town and the community is being shaped. With their intellect and their knowledge, it can help change some things. And there’s a lot of change that needs to be made that we, as a community, think don’t need to be changed, but in order for us to keep growing I think we’re gonna have to change into a more positive direction. So maybe we can help each other with that.”

New owner of Midway Grocery says he wants to meet his customers and find out what they want

New Midway Grocery owner Nik Patel, right, posed with manager Pankil Shah in the produce department.

One of Midway's oldest and most prominent businesses has a new owner. Nikesh "Nik" Patel took over the Midway Grocery from Scott Bradley on Jan.Feb. 4. Bradley didn't respond to a phone call seeking an interview, but Patel spoke with the Messenger today and said he wants to meet Midwegians.

Patel said he has one other store, in Midville, Georgia, a town of 269 that was named for its site between Macon and Savannah. He said he was looking for another store to buy, saw the Midway Grocery advertised for sale, and "When I heard the name, I said, 'I like'."

"I like small towns," he said. "Everybody's helpful; everybody knows each other."

Patel said he formerly owned a store in Hodgenville, which he has leased, and is arranging to buy the lot where the Midway Grocery is located, at a focal point of the town. He said he did not think the Shell station and convenience store that opened near Interstate 64 a little over seven years ago was a threat to his store because they have different clienteles: "That store is on the highway. This is in town."

Because both stores are owned by Indian Americans, and the owners of the Shell store bought the smaller Gulf store across the road a few years ago, some in Midway jumped to the conclusion that they now owned all three stores. Patel said he is not connected to the Shell station's owners.

Patel said he was born in the Indian province of Guajarat 35 years ago, moved with his family to southern New Jersey, and bought the Georgia store in 2008. He said his wife, a teacher, is still in Georgia but he has moved to Lexington with their two children, who are 6 and 4, because he couldn't find an apartment in Midway.

Asked what changes he has in mind for the grocery, Patel said he will extend its hours to 9 p.m., and then to 10 p.m. if business warrants. It now closes at 8 p.m. As for him, he says will be at the store from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., and wants customers to introduce themselves: "I like to know the customers."

What about possible changes in the grocery's stock? "I'd like to know what customers need," he said. He said they can even call his cell, and authorized publication of the number: 609-670-2192.

Business Association lays plans for a year of events, starting with Chocolate Stroll from 11 to 5 on Saturday

By Lauren McCally

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

               The Midway Business Association had plenty to talk about at its monthly meeting Wednesday, with Saturday’s Chocolate Stroll kicking off a long list of events planned this year.

               Members also discussed the possibility of using the MBA’s growing bank account to help others, such as Midway Renaissance and Northside Elementary, with advertising for events. They also discussed the fall festival, the possibility of an RJ Corman Railroad dinner train stopping in Midway, and potential solutions for downtown parking.

               Besides the Chocolate Stroll, which will held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the MBA also discussed a St. Patrick’s Day event, movies in the courtyard and many other events scheduled throughout the year.

               The St. Patrick’s Day event is set for Saturday, March 14, from 2 to 6 p.m. with vendors and a band, but no parade as in recent years, President Cortney Neikirk said. It will feature a blessing of the keg and a leprechaun.

                At their last meeting MBA members discussed a possible dinner train stop. One member said Corman executive Noel Rush, who handles a lot of the railroad’s community bookings, told her that he would think about what the MBA was trying to do.

               Elisha Holt, coordinator of the fall festival and other events, said local merchants who want to participate in the festival Sept. 19-20 “do not fill out the application online because in order to get the discount they need to do a paper one, since there are no discounted applications on the digital one.” Those need to be filled out by June 30.

               Although applications typically go out around Feb. 10, Holt said they were sent out before the first of January, and 29 vendors had already accepted, all of which are return vendors. Fall festival meetings will start being held in March. Holt mentioned that Country Boy Brewing would sponsor the festival stage again.

               Neikirk said the fall festival account has grown to $42,000, following profits of $38,500 last year, and the association has almost $13,000 in other accounts.

               She said the MBA will use some of that money to help Renaissance advertise its three Midsummer Nights in Midway, which have been scheduled cooperatively. “Their events help us, so we’re going to advertise for them,” she said.

               Renaissance members staff City Hall during weekend events to make public restrooms available, and the group does an annual Midway Heritage Day in the fall that the MBA makes part of its events schedule.

               Neikirk said the MBA could cooperate with other groups that hold events, such as Northside Elementary School. “It gets us all connected with each other,” she said.

               Holt said events have also been scheduled in cooperation with Versailles businesses. “We are trying to play very nicely with Versailles,” she said, noting that every summer weekend will have some sort of event in Woodford County.

               The final topic at the meeting was shortage of parking, especially for employees of restaurants and shops. Neikirk said she has talked to the restaurants and is trying to help them find a place for their employees to park somewhere other than the Main Street area.

                “You see people drive through, and there’s nowhere to park, and you watch them drive right out of town,” Neikirk said. “And that’s the thing, nobody’s going to park at Wallace Station to walk downtown.”

               Neikirk proposed that restaurant owners come together to see if a local church would be willing to rent its parking lot every day but Sunday for use of the employees, but said she is unsure if that will happen.