Kerce hopes to make building Lively

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Lively Building owner and school teacher Karen Kerce pauses while walking through the second floor of the building, which was basically impassable when she acquired it. (Amy Satterwhite photo)

When restorationist Karen Kerce first started working on the Lively Building on East Main Street four years ago, it was noted as a dank, dark place.

All that has changed after the removal of rotted old boards as well as the removal of enough cover to reveal light shining through the windows.

The building is still old, of course. And it still needs a lot of work. And though it may not seem like much, preservationists and others were thrilled to be expecting drywall – 225 sheets, to be exact – to be delivered there early this week.

Kerce, a school teacher in neighboring Coffee County, purchased the building four years ago from the preservation group Heritage Alliance. That organization had received the building, which was once used as a photography studio by famed local photographer W.S. “Dad” Lively, as a donation from First National Bank, which had owned the building since the late 80s.

“I bought it from Heritage Alliance and started restoration and got the building stabilized,” Kerce said while on site Monday. “One thing after another happened and I put the project on hold. And now, I’m back.”

A restorationist who said she gained knowledge of historic restoration while living in Nashville and working with professional restorationists, Kerce said she heard about the building from a contractor who used to visit an antique mall downtown.

At first, she wasn’t interested in purchasing the building, but when she moved from Nashville to Manchester, she thought she could manage it.

“I just believe in restoration. If we tear things down, we can’t put them back. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. And to me, that’s a shame,” she said of her interest in the building as well as preserving local history. “It’s a piece of heritage, a piece of history, that can never be recovered if it’s pushed down.”

The algebra teacher can now walk up the stairs to the second floor of the building to an open window.

That is a dramatic difference from four years ago, when water damage was prevalent and the supports for the stairs were laughable.

“All the rafters, all the floor joists that got taken out were completely rotted through,” Kerce said. “They would not hold weight. You couldn’t even walk on the second floor and up to the third floor.”

Now, the building that once housed the Lively studio as well as a furniture store and an undertaking business in the distant past along with more recently, a clothing store, will become something else.

“The front will be restored to look like a building in the early 1900s. That’s the era we’ve decided to go with,” she said. “I’m putting in all new wiring, plumbing and separate heating and air systems for the separate floors. Downstairs will be retail or office space.”

The second floor may be used as either residential or office space, or even a combination of the two, she added. The third floor will be used as an attic, if anything.

Kerce’s efforts have been noticed, as attested to by Main Street McMinnville director Chris Wilson, who said Kerce represents many who are interested in preserving and developing downtown’s historic structures as well as understanding the importance of restoring them.

“She is one of the growing numbers of new property owners willing to invest in the renovation of the building in order to secure a good new tenant,” Wilson said.