Another Historic Fairhope Building Demolished

village square
OLD MAGNET THEATRE                                

The old theatre building at the corner of Fairhope Ave and Church St was demolished last week -- contrary to  the belief of a nearby business owner that it was to be restored (Bill Baldwin, Fairhope Hardware).

The building, in recent years called the Village Square before it burned about a year ago, had housed 8 shops and a pizza restaurant.

MAYOR SAID IT WOULD BE RESTORED TOO

In his State of the City address last Spring, Mayor Kant also assured worried citizens it would be restored.

Kant said then: "I talked to the owners ... they are working forward ... about restoring the building and not tearing it down."

Earlier reports indicated a breakfast restaurant and some of the original shops were to be re-located there, when restoration was completed.

John Bethea and James Reid were listed as owners (Bethea and Reid LLC).

Its unclear what is being planned there now.




Comments

Anonymous said…
Nero fiddled while Rome burned they say. Fairhope's losing its character -- block by block ...
Anonymous said…
i for one am glad it is gone. it was just another ugly old building. time to move on.
Anonymous said…
Historic = old. Time to move forward.
Anonymous said…
I don't know what people expect John to do. The "Tumble Down" Inn was just that, tumbled down and termite infested, and this place was burned so bad, hard to renovate. At least he is building some good looking buildings.
Anonymous said…
Trouble is, developers cant be trusted. They never, ever do what they say they will.
Anonymous said…
That rat and termite infested fire hazard was a detriment to our city. Anything Bethea builds is going to be an attribute to our downtown.
Anonymous said…
Everything over 10 years old doesn't have to be labeled "historic." Just build something nice that meets whatever building restrictions/codes are in place. It will be an improvement.
Anonymous said…
I hope he can at leastt save the big oak tree there and remove all the concrte sidewalks from over the root zone.