First COVID, now construction: Is it ‘lights out’ at Frankfort’s oldest restaurant?
Prospects are looking dim for a staple of Frankfort dining. The White Light Diner on Bridge Street was hoping to come out of coronavirus pandemic hibernation this spring.
But owner Rick Paul says that may not be possible. The one-block Bridge Street is now virtually cut off from public access, caught between a broken bridge over a swollen Kentucky River and a massive road project.
The popular diner, which has appeared on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” was open at 50 percent capacity last year until the end of November. On Nov. 21, a car crashed into the side of the historic “Singing Bridge” over the Kentucky River and damaged the bridge, which has been closed ever since.
That reduced street traffic so much that the diner closed too.
Now, Paul said, construction on Bridge Street and Second Street in front of and around his block has made his restaurant and the ReBoutique thrift store across the street virtually inaccessible.
The bridge is scheduled to be closed until mid-May for repairs, Paul said. The downtown roadwork, which began in January, will go on until August 2022. And to make matters worse, on Wednesday a marina that had broken loose from this week’s historic flooding floated downstream on the Kentucky River and scraped the Singing Bridge.
“We’ve been closed for three months,” he said. “When you can’t drive by us, we might as well be closed.”
He considered reopening for takeout, but it is so difficult to get there that he wonders if people or delivery services would bother, especially because parking is limited.
Paul said he has written to the state and to Gov. Andy Beshear asking for relief.
He said his employees, including his daughter, have filed for unemployment but have not received any benefits.
“We are desperate and need money and I believe the state or the city should compensate my business as well as the woman across the street that has a business,” Paul said.
Stephanie Waddell, who owns a thrift shop, which used to be known as The Jewel Box, said she has struggled to stay open. “I try to communicate with customers on Facebook to let them know they can park behind the building,” she said. But some days, there is no access, she said.
The White Light Diner, Frankfort’s oldest restaurant opened on the site in 1929 and the existing building was built in 1943. Paul, a trained chef who has owned many restaurants and clubs, bought the diner in 1991 and built a following for his breakfast specials, handmade burgers and pulled pork as well as his Cajun and Creole dishes.
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
