Work continues on Roper's Building

Residents driving on North Main in Whitehall may have noticed the ongoing construction at the Roper's Building.

According to owner Jeffrey Hansen, they are currently working on re-stuccoing and refacing the façade of the building.

"The majority of the building will be stucco with a small amount of new brick around the Roper's side storefront windows. They also will be applying two different colors to give the building an appearance of being two different buildings," Hansen said. "It also motivated me to finish installing the last two windows on the front of the building that I've had for months. They also will be doing repairs to the stucco and brick on the alley side."

Earlier this year, a new store Saturday Mornings opened in the building, and McLeod Realty also moved into the building. Saturday Mornings is owned and operated by Hansen's sister, Dawn Lewton.

"It was very rewarding to have both my sister and a local real estate company become my first tenants in three years plus. The building has been vacant and very costly to repair so it's nice to finally get some kind of income generated," Hansen said. "I think both tenants want to give back to the Town of Whitehall and help me finish what I started at the same time. Every little bit helps."

As for what's next at the building, Hansen said his list is long.

"We still have some roof leaking issues to address and then onto the interior of the old Ropers bar and bowling alley. Then maybe move upstairs to the apartments sometime at the end of next year," he said.

In an interview last year, Hansen said he plans to reopen the bowling alley and incorporate a brewery to share the space.