Area business, government, and community members were in Leitchfield Friday to celebrate two efforts to help revive the downtown public square.
The Grayson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for Elmore’s Big 7 Furniture, located at 32 Public Square in Leitchfield. Shortly after that, the crowd went across the square to the Alice Theatre for a ribbon cutting celebrating the re-opening of the theatre and the Alexander Hotel.
Robin Elmore said the road may not have been easy, but being part of the Leitchfield community is a rewarding experience.
“It’s been a blessing,” Elmore said. “It’s been tiresome, and it’s wonderful. I mean, we have had a year and a half of putting this back together and trying to restore it back to this original status, but also trying to bring it up to date and put a little modern flair to it, but it’s been awesome and the support of the community that we’ve had has been amazing.”
Robert McKinzie and his wife Mandi said their work on the theatre and hotel is an investment in the community’s future.
“What we hoped for was that whatever we did would inspire others to do something even more in the community to bring more life back into it, to allow great things to happen in Grayson County,” McKinzie said.
Grayson County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director April Spalding said community partners like the Elmores and McKinzies are critical.
“They put a lot of time and effort and money into it, and they have made big decisions and big, big donations to our community just by rehabbing these buildings,” Spalding said.
Learn more about Elmore’s Big 7 Furniture, the Alice Theatre, and the Alexander Hotel by finding their pages on Facebook.