Lawrenceburg submitted to be on new HGTV show

Could Lawrenceburg be the focus of an upcoming show on HGTV?

It certainly meets the criteria for Home Town Takeover, a new show which will be hosted by Ben and Erin Napier from the hit series Home Town, which also airs on HGTV.

Billed as HGTV’s biggest renovation project ever, Home Town Takeover will makeover an entire town and Lawrenceburg has been submitted for consideration to be the city they choose for the show. The criteria includes towns with a population of 40,000 or less, homes with great architecture longing to be revealed, and a Main Street that needs a facelift. Lawrenceburg certainly has all three.

To complete the entry, the Lawrenceburg/Anderson County Tourism office has partnered with the Anderson Public Library to put together a video (click here to watch) that shows what Lawrenceburg can offer the show and the places around town that would benefit from Ben and Erin’s expertise. Justin Silverman, the library’s community relations director, and Kendall Clinton, the executive director of the tourism commission, conducted video interviews recently with Mayor Troy Young, T.B. Ripy House co-owner George Geoghegan, Sweet Mash co-owner Dawn Bogie, and J. Bailey and Sons Trading Co. owner John Bailey to talk about the recent revitalization efforts throughout town, the work that still needs to be done and how Home Town Takeover could impact Lawrenceburg. A portion of the song “Lawrenceburg” by local musical duo R&R was used with the video to help further tell the town’s story.

In addition, a 1,300-word description of why Lawrenceburg should be chosen for the show and five photos were included with the submission.

Downtown Lawrenceburg has witnessed a noticeable rebirth over the past five years, with ongoing interest from other people who would like to locate downtown. There are now local retail shops, restaurants, a coffee shop, an inn and apartments downtown. The former pool hall where J. Bailey and Sons Trading Co. will open soon on South Main Street is currently undergoing renovations and another new business is expected to open on Main Street in April. Home Town Takeover was asked to seize on the momentum downtown and finish the facelift.

Several of the older homes near downtown have undergone various levels of repairs and renovations in recent years as well, including the Ripy House. Built in 1888 by bourbon baron T.B. Ripy, the house fell into a state of extreme disrepair in recent years until it was purchased by Geoghegan and T.B. Ripy IV, both great-grandsons of T.B. Ripy. The first floor of the house has been renovated and is being used for a variety of events, but the second and third floors both need complete renovations and work is also needed on the exterior to bring the house back to its former glory. Several other older homes in Lawrenceburg could also benefit from the project HGTV is undertaking.

“The combination of our quaint downtown that is already in the process of being revitalized and several beautiful homes that could be showplaces with some attention, including the Ripy House, are why I think Lawrenceburg is the perfect town for this new HGTV show,” Clinton said. “We also emphasized that 2020 is Lawrenceburg’s bicentennial and that this kind of project in conjunction with our 200th anniversary could be the next big step in transforming Lawrenceburg into one of the most attractive small towns in Kentucky.”

HGTV hasn’t announced a date when the town selected to be the focus of the new show will be announced.