A vacant former nightspot eyed for redevelopment is getting a facelift.
The Board of Architectural Review Tuesday approved a plan by developer and building co-owner Daryl Hollingsworth to restore the building’s front to its original look. The vote was 6-0 to approve.
Hollingsworth and his partner, Mary Jane Wooten, are remodeling the building to have a wine bar, called “The Wine House” on the ground floor and apartments on the second floor at 1412 Washington St.
Hollingsworth said the building’s front was altered from its original look by a previous owner.
“I want to remove the awnings and enclose the left side of the building (front) in glass,” he said. “That’s actually the way it was.”
Hollingsworth produced a photo of the building’s current look, and a photo of a building in Paducah, Ky., as an example of what he wants to do. He also included a copy of a drawing of the original building that came from a book of the city’s historic buildings.
Two board members, however, were initially hesitant about the drawing, saying the board in the past required drawings of projects with more detail.
“I don’t have enough information in front of me,” Thurman Nelson Jr. said, referring to the drawing.
“I’m apprehensive about approving this (without a better drawing),” Doretha Gholson said. “I don’t want this to come back and haunt us.”
The proposed Wine House and the apartments are in the same place where The Ware House apartment and lounge complex operated from 2007 to 2009. Previous bar-and-grill businesses operated there and at neighboring parts of the building in the past decade, including Manda’s and Niknar’s.
The building was one of several of buildings owned by Robert Ware that were bought for $1 million in January 2010 by Britton & Koontz Bank at a foreclosure sale. It was one of two buildings that included the former 13-room Ware House hotel and a sports bar and lounge.
In other action, the board approved and accepted the 2002 Historic Cultural Resource Survey, which includes a listing of the city’s historic homes and other buildings relevant to the city’s history and a color-coded map listing the historical importance of each building in the city’s historic district.