We Need Your Help to Preserve the Elks Home in Downtown Middlesborough!

Members of the DDM Design Committee in front of the Elks Home. From left to right: Blake Bowling, Chair; Katie Bisceglia-Stotts; Steven Sharp; Elizabeth Barry; Isaac Kremer; Tara Pope; and Aaron Fraustro. Photo credit: Emily Sharp.

Middlesborough is a leading the competition in a statewide contest called "This is My Old Kentucky Home." to identify places that Kentuckians feel at "home." Community leaders submitted the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Home. Originally built in 1911, this impressive four-story brick building served as a convalescent home of the Elks order for a little less than a decade. After that it became a hospital where many people living in Middlesborough today were born.

Craig Potts, KHC executive director
& state historic preservation officer.
Credit: City of Louisville.

“Historic places matter to Kentuckians. We want to invite people to share how and why they value Kentucky’s historic places, and build interest in the reuse and preservation of historic buildings,” said Craig Potts, KHC executive director and state historic preservation officer. “We want people to be able to tell their own story about how historic buildings and places make them feel.”

Discover Downtown Middlesboro acquired the building in December 2012. Ever since then this non-profit organization has worked hard to build support for its restoration. Recently grants to assist with this effort were secured from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Certified Local Government program administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council. Additional applications are pending before the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection to assist with cleanup of hazardous substances in the building. If successful, we hope to transform this vacant eyesore into a beautifully restored mixed-use building with housing and offices on the upper floors and with retail and restaurant use on the ground floor.

DDM Executive Director said of the contest, "Middlesborough won a similar contest held nationally by CommunityMatters in September 2013. We're confident that the community will rally together and we can win again, while highlighting one of the most distinctive buildings in Eastern Kentucky and our Commonwealth."

The Elks Home will also be a focal point of the upcoming Better Block Middlesborough event on Saturday, May 10. Storefronts will be brought back to life through the installation of a pop-up museum, signage, and exhibits. Additionally, several other temporary interventions will take place on this block including a pop-up cafe located at our Makers Market, a landscaped walkway near the middle of the block, and other improvements to plant the seed for long-term change. Numerous state officials and experts in community and economic development will be present including  Kitty Dougoud, Kentucky Main Street Program director; Herb Petitjean with the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection; Della Rucker from the Wise Economy Workshop and author of The Local Economy Revolution; and Bill Lutz, Community Development Director for Piqua, Ohio.

In celebration of National Historic Preservation Month we ask that you do your part and go out and help us save the Elks Home! Visit the Kentucky Heritage Council page on Facebook, click the "Enter to Win!" button and vote. You can vote once a day between now and May 23. We invite you to attend the Better Block event on May 10 and get involved firsthand. Please share this message and important project with your family, friends, and neighbors. Thanks!


Step-by-Step Instructions.


Instructions for how to vote follow. You may also be able to just follow this link and click vote at the top of the page: http://woobox.com/h4r4qg/vote/for/2444612.

1. Visit the Kentucky Heritage Council page at https://www.facebook.com/KYSHPO and click the "Enter to Win! / Photo Contest" button.

2. On the contest page click "Vote."

3. Find the Elks Home on that page and select vote in the bottom right corner. Once you vote the box will be filled in green. You can vote once a day between now and May 23. So please go back and vote MULTIPLE TIMES!