Patti’s 1880’s Settlement hopes to reopen Nov. 27

GRAND RIVERS, Ky. (KFVS) - Patti’s 1880′s Settlement is gearing up to reopen this fall after a fire destroyed the business in February 2018.

In addition to rebuilding the popular tourist destination in western Kentucky, the owners are also looking to hire more than 200 people.

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Patti’s hosted a job fair.

The success of the event could lead to another job fair soon.

The general manager at Patti’s 1880s Settlement said they hope to open a few months ahead of the their Christmas season.

“The whole town is excited,” said Anita Williamson, the general manager of Patti’s. “We are excited to get open hopefully by the first of October and that will be the kick off right before our Christmas season which everyone looks forward to. The year before last we served over 56,000 in the month of December so we have a lot of fans and people who are looking forward to us getting open again,” said Williamson.

Even though Patti’s will have a newly-updated restaurant, Williams stress it will have the same charm and nostalgia it had before the fire.

“The menu will be exactly the way that it was. We are not taking anything away or changing anything on that. The dining rooms are all very small, quaint, intimate dining rooms,” said Williamson.

Terri Vaughn, the dining room manager for Patti’s, said guests will notice some familiar items saved from the fire.

“All the antique tables that we had, the majority of them will go back into the restaurant. All of our stained glass, which is some of the things we were known for, and the antiques, those will all go back into the restaurant. The decor will still be very similar,” said Vaughn.

In rebuilding, Patti’s managers did implement suggestions from diners when it came to the design of the new building.

“A lot of people asked for private dining, so we did have a few new additions as far as different dining rooms. It’s laid out a little different but the concept is still there,” said Vaughn.

Many in and outside of the Grand Rivers community have been anxious for the restaurant’s return.

“I get probably four to six calls a day asking about Patti’s, when they are going to reopen things like that,” said Brian McDonald, the executive director of tourism for Grand Rivers.

He said when Patti’s closed the community felt the impact.

“When Patti’s burnt down in February of 2018 we saw about a 20 percent decline in our tourism. I expect that to go up past 20 percent when they do open because everyone is so excited about the new building,” said McDonald.

Patti’s continued to update the community and customers with Facebook posts on the rebuilding process.

The main goal for the crew at Patti’s is to keep the memories alive.

“Patti’s has always been memories and trying to bring back everyone’s memories in a new building is probably our biggest feat but we feel like we are definitely getting there,” said Vaughn.

They are hoping to host a few more job fairs in the near future.

The best way to find information on these events is through the Patti’s 1880′s Settlement Facebook page.

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