By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

The Donut Chef opened Thursday, Nov. 1, in the front half of the newly-renovated historic building located at 100 Main Street in Columbiana. Open for homemade donuts, hot coffee and soft drinks, the shop will be a great place in Columbiana to visit and have a delicious yummy treat!

A.S. Liles owned the block on Main in the early 1900s. On May 20, 1914, a huge fire destroyed the entire block.

“Occupied by H. Gordon and Company and the Judge Company, the Telephone Exchange and offices of Browne, Leeper, and Koening, W.L. Longshore, J.L. Peters, J.L. Miles and the Shoe Shop were entirely destroyed…Nearly every citizen in town turned out and done heroic work to save the adjoining buildings, which was successful…The store of Max Lefkovits and the Shelby County Courthouse (which was recently built in 1906) were slightly damaged,” read The Peoples Advocate, Columbiana, Alabama, May 21, 1914.

Liles rebuilt the block in 1915 and it has had a long rich history until recent years when it became vacant and for sale. In August 2011, Andrew and Diane Moore and Stancil and Ann Handley bought the building for their mutual love and passion of restoring historic buildings. The Moores have restored the Densler House in Wilsonville, the Columbiana Inn, and the 1890 Wedding Chapel. The Handleys have restored the Verchot home built in the 1800s and Handley’s office located on Main Street. Both the Moores and the Handleys have a passion to help Columbiana, bring more life to downtown and to keep the character of historic buildings. The new owners are applying to have the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building has recently been brought up to code complete with ADA handicap bathrooms and new electrical, HVAC and plumbing. There is additional space for more retail, offices, and hopefully a sandwich shop to Columbiana’s downtown.

“Columbiana has so much to give,” said Diane Moore. “We personally want everyone to fall in love with our precious, historic town.”

For information on 100 Main Street, contact Andrew Moore at 205-616-3086 or andrew@columbianainn.com.

 

Phoebe Donald Robinson can be reached by email at phoeberobinson@bellsouth.net.