By Kara Uhl
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| The front of 15 North Fort Thomas Avenue has a large patio, but the conversion from a home has proven challenging to restaurant concepts. |
Dan Gorman, the man behind the Hiland Building, the
properties at 20 Grand and more, has teamed up with Fort Thomas resident and
attorney David Meyer, to reopen a restaurant at 15 N. Fort Thomas
Avenue—possibly by the end of the year.
Meyer, his wife (Jenny) and their three daughters (two are
students at Highlands High School and one is a student Highlands Middle School)
live a half mile from the restaurant. Every time a restaurant would close (past
concepts have included 15 North Pizza, Mio's, Pergola and Warner's Restaurant),
Meyer would lament the fact that they were no longer within walking distance to
such a great community gathering spot—especially the large patio during the
warmer months.
The building, once a stately home, was not designed to be a
restaurant. Past owners have tried to use the layout sensibly, but the kitchen
is on a separate floor from the dining room. Trays of food have to be navigated
up a narrow stairway. Flow, often paramount to a restaurant’s success, is a
constant issue.
Still, Gorman and Meyer are determined to not let the
building sit vacant, and they hope doing something with it will help revive the
city’s central business district in the same way the Midway district has
recently.
“It’s really exciting to see what’s happening with the
Midway district right now,” Gorman says.
“I think that has a lot of positive momentum because a few
people took chances. I think the Midway Café has made a huge difference, having
some new ownership in there and a lot of energy. They did a nice job with
repositioning and the energy that they brought has caused more business to come
to the whole district. I think that’s the reason why people are willing to take
the chance on the other two buildings [1011 and 1013 S. Fort Thomas Ave.] that
are under construction.”
Restaurants, in particular, are key to any city’s success
and Gorman hopes the reopening of 15 N. Fort Thomas Avenue, no matter the
concept, gives the central business district some momentum and movement in
terms of filling vacant properties and seriously considering redevelopment
further down the road.
“What I want to see is that everybody comes together,”
Gorman says. “The citizens, the business owners and the city, and they
recognize that there’s crazy amounts of economic development being made with
our neighbors in Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton. The more they do and
the less we do, the more it hurts us. And so, the more difficult it is for our
local businesses that are here to thrive. I think they will survive, because
they are really smart business owners and they’ll figure it out.
But it would be nice if they could just really thrive.”
To thrive, Gorman says the central business district needs a
lot more critical mass. “If we only have two to three businesses that are open
and we have a lot of empty space, it makes it more difficult for existing
businesses to thrive,” Gorman says. “So I would love nothing more than to see a
really aggressive plan that would involve some redevelopment of the central
business district.”
Gorman and Meyer have only had their hands on the building
at 15 N. Fort Thomas Avenue for about three weeks. Meyer and his family have
spent nearly every waking moment, when not at work and school, cleaning and
painting the property, and taking inventory of what they have to work with.
They have no plans to do a huge kitchen renovation. They’re optimistically
cautious, being careful with spending in order to ensure success.
Currently there’s no fryer, grill or stove—but there is a
large brick oven, which the owners of 15 North Pizza installed. The brick oven
is now a permanent fixture of the restaurant, as the building’s structure was
changed to bring it in. Without other equipment, any food they make will need
to be something that can be cooked in a brick oven. To open quickly—within a
few weeks—Meyer says they can serve pizzas, with possibly a few smaller items,
such as soups and salads.
A liquor license takes time, so if they do open quickly,
alcohol won’t be on the menu—at first. But Meyer and Gorman have also
considered the possibility of renting the property out through the first of the
year. Folks could bring in their own alcohol and caterers, and use the space
for parties and events, popular during the holiday months.
Because the property has sat vacant for almost a year,
preparing the property to reopen does take time. “I’d like to get it open as
soon as possible, but it’s not just flipping a light switch,” Meyer says.
Meyer and his wife, Jenny, have a combined 20-year history
of working in the restaurant business, including service, management,
financials, work flow and staffing. They, along with Gorman, plan to consult
with people who live in Fort Thomas to figure out how, exactly, to make this
property, with all its difficulties in work flow and space, succeed.
“I think that if Fort Thomas doesn’t do something, and our
neighbors keep doing stuff, that it’s really not going to be good for our
town,” Gorman says. “I feel like we just need to do something and I think the
sooner we do it the better.”
And this then circles us back to folks like Gorman and
Meyer. Folks who are attending meetings, strategizing and investing, and folks
who, along with his family, are up late at night, washing walls, sweeping
floors and painting trim. So if you drive by 15 N. Fort Thomas Avenue and see a
light in the window, know that there are people out there trying to bring it
back to life, just as there are people out there trying to see our city—and
those who own businesses in it—not just survive, but thrive.
Only then, do we all win.
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