What's Happening to Local Businesses in Downtown Owensboro?

It seems like more stores are leaving Downtown Owensboro every month so we decided to see how many vacant buildings there are. It's startling to see this happening in our community.

It started with a field trip to simply take photos of our beautiful riverfront for a separate story I was working on this week. It quickly turned into a whole new story when I noticed just how many vacancies there are in Downtown Owensboro. It's so disheartening to see just how many buildings sit empty. I LOVE our downtown and spend time there weekly enjoying the atmosphere and restaurants. I'm just scared of what it is and can become and who'll be next to close their doors.

I grew up in a tourist town with a beautiful riverfront overlooking Lake Michigan. Whenever I go back to my hometown my family and I look forward to hitting up all the shops in downtown Traverse City and there are so many with few vacancies. 80% of the shops have been there for years which adds to the charm. If you think about it, these shops really only have 6-7 months of good business because of the brutal Northern Michigan winters, but they stay and I'm so glad to revisit these wonderful businesses every year.

I know Owensboro isn't a tourist town, but didn't we build up the riverfront and spend a lot of money doing so to build us up as a tourist location and to bring money into the city? Maybe I'm confused, but I thought that was the plan. Where is the help for smaller local businesses? We give money to bring large corporations to our community. We build up our riverfront, but what about one and/or two streets beyond? I'm not pointing fingers or placing blame, I'm just a concerned citizen and worried we'll have a great play park, museum, etc. but otherwise it'll be a ghost town with worn out buildings.

Let's take a walk downtown and see just how vacant it really is. From Capone's, M&M Jewelers, The Crowne to Nona's Downtown Market and more.

Barb Birgy