BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONTGOMERY -- Parts of Old Montgomery are taking on a new look.
A new office building is emerging at the site of the former Sheppard bookstore on Main Street.
The Montgomery Inn restaurant -- famed for its barbecued ribs -- is expanding its Montgomery Road eatery to seat more diners.
The city has received seven proposals for retail or restaurant development of the old Sage Tavern Building and an abutting three vacant lots between Montgomery Road and Main Street.
Jim Daniels, president of Daniels Home Inc., said his company will move into new offices in the two-story brick office building his company is constructing next to another office building the new home construction company owns.
The company bought the site from the city for $215,000 last September. The lot was the site of an airplane crash 15 years ago that destroyed the Sheppard Bookstore and killed six people.
Kathy Buckley, the city's community development director, said the city soon will be reviewing seven applications to purchase the historic Sage Tavern building, which formerly housed a bakery. Some of the proposals are for the development of the old tavern building and three abutting lots, while others propose only to develop the historic building, Ms. Buckley said. The city has recommended a retail use for the site.
The city-owned building was named for Mary and John Sage, who ran it in the late 1800s.
Montgomery purchased the building and the three other adjoining properties for about $430,000 in 1996, Ms. Buckley said.
The addition to Montgomery Inn is proceeding on schedule, said Rick Knapp, general manager of the Montgomery location.
Janet C. Wetzel contributed to this report.
