Judge holds fate of Covington’s historic Bavarian Brewery

July 6, 2015

36Pab,

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The fate of the historic Bavarian Brewery in Covington is now in the hands of a Kenton County judge.

Attorneys with the city of Covington and the property’s owner, casino and hotel operator Columbia Sussex, on Wednesday argued in Kenton County Circuit Court whether the 100-year-old brewery building should be torn down.

Over the next few weeks, Judge Gregory Bartlett will decide whether the city was right to block Columbia Sussex’s request to demolish the historic building.

The landmark on 12th Street alongside Interstate 75 has spurred many in Covington to rally to save the large, yellow castle-like building.

Assistant City Solicitor Don Warner gave the example of the success of the new Braxton Brewery in Covington on why and how the Bavarian building should and could be re-used. With historic tax credits and other money available, the building can still be used, Warner said.

"The Braxton Brewery set a record for crowdfunding," Warner said in court Wednesday. "So when the question is, ‘Is it economically viable?’ the record shows that it is."

The building has been vacant since Jillian’s nightclub closed in 2006. The Bavarian Brewing Co. brewed beer on the spot from the late 1800s to the 1960s.

Columbia Sussex bought the building in 2008 with the hopes of opening a casino, but the Kentucky Legislature never approved casino gambling. Columbia Sussex hasn’t found a buyer for the property at its asking price of $7 million.

Representatives with Columbia Sussex have said the property is not marketable with the large, antiquated building. The company sought a certificate of appropriateness from the city to tear the building down. The city’s Urban Design Review Board and the City Commission both rejected that certificate this year.

The company needs city approval because it’s in a historic district created by the city in the 1990s around the Bavarian Brewery site. At the heart of the debate was whether an amendment to a development plan for the neighborhood made by the City Commission in 2009 prohibited the demolition of the building.

Prospective buyers have told Columbia Sussex to call them when the building can be torn down, Columbia Sussex attorney Scott Thomas told the court Wednesday. Until then, no buyer is interested in the property, Thomas said.

"This building will continue to be a blight upon the community and the very evil that enabling statute seeks to minimize until it’s demolished and a new development can take place providing jobs, perhaps providing homes," he said.

Thomas argued before the judge that nothing in the city’s legislation that created the historic district prohibits a building from being torn down.

The city has argued that the Urban Design Review Board’s rejection of the demolition certificate was appropriate. They claim the building is marketable and that the city has the right to deny demolition in the historic district.

At stake is a city’s right to protect historic buildings, said City Solicitor Frank Warnock.

"If we’re not going to be able to enforce ordinances and protect historic buildings, it renders our efforts fruitless," Warnock said.

Warnock expects the judge’s decision could take weeks.

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Information from: The Kentucky Enquirer, http://www.nky.com