HARRODSBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — Main Street is home to local shops and businesses, and it's as much about promoting the new as it is preserving the old.
"Our mission is to promote, preserve and maintain Harrodsburg's historical area," said Kaitlyn Harder.
Harder is the Executive Director of Harrodsburg First, a civic group making Main Street its mission.
"Downtown Harrodsburg is a diverse mix of retailers, all locally owned and operated," she said. "We're extremely proud of our local entrepreneurs, and I feel like Harrodsburg has a huge sense of pride, and we really try to support each other and all of our small businesses."
Downtown Pizza Pub is one of those businesses.
"It was just a dream of mine, here in my hometown, to have a business to serve the community," said Jonathan Rhodes with Downtown Pizza Pub. "We've got children and pizza was just kind of part of our life anyway."
And it was also a dream, he says, to have his pizza place on Main Street. A place where there are familiar faces, from the kitchen to the dining room.
"It like a big family," said Rhodes.
A quick stroll down Main Street will take you to The Vault.
"We really fell in love with Harrodsburg, especially this little downtown section," said owner Tim Kazimer.
Tim and Jennifer Kazimer had a vision for this historic building... which was a nice hotel back in the 1800s and then served as a county government building for years, covered in concrete from floor to ceiling.
"Rather than try to gut it or redecorate it, we just embraced it," said Tim. "The concrete, the whole industrial thing, is a little en vogue now. So we just decided let's just go with it."
And so within these walls, they started their cider business.
"We decided to do something a little bit different, beer's been done," said Tim. "I've always been interested in doing ciders."
Add in the food, live music, and a recently built stage out back.
"We just like to be a place where the community can come and run into other people," said Jennifer. "It's just fun to watch people meet and end up sitting together and having fun together."
The lively, heart-of-the-town feel that Main Street brings is exactly what the business owners and downtown advocates hope for.
