Doubles Bar, site of fatal summer shooting in Hamilton, to be razed

The operators of Doubles Bar in Hamilton have been evicted by the property owners. The Louisville, Ky.-based owners of the property at 1555 Main St. said they plan to tear down the building and sell the 1.34-acre property, perhaps to a regional or national restaurant chain. GREG LYNCH/STAFF

The operators of Doubles Bar in Hamilton have been evicted by the property owners. The Louisville, Ky.-based owners of the property at 1555 Main St. said they plan to tear down the building and sell the 1.34-acre property, perhaps to a regional or national restaurant chain. GREG LYNCH/STAFF

A Hamilton bar that was the site of a fatal shooting over the summer will be razed with hopes of creating a new, more positive business there, the property owner has told the Journal-News.

The Louisville, Ky.-based owners of the property at 1555 Main St., which is the site of Doubles Bar, said they plan to tear down the building and sell the 1.34-acre property, perhaps to a regional or national restaurant chain.

A 22-year-old Hamilton man was fatally shot at about 2 a.m. July 24 near the Doubles Bar property, where seven others were wounded by gunfire in the same incident.

It wasn’t the first incident of violence at the establishment, though. Doubles also was the site of a double shooting in August 2015.

City officials say stronger action needed against bar

After the July shooting, city officials said they would be reviewing police and fire department calls for service and resident complaints concerning the bar.

Shortly after the shooting, Police Chief Craig Bucheit told the Journal-News that the number of police calls and violence at Doubles was unacceptable and would not be tolerated.

Since then, Bucheit has been in contact with the property’s owner, Hamble LLC, which had been leasing the property to the bar’s operators.

Bucheit said he connected the property owners with the city’s economic development team in hopes of bringing a new business to the site.

“One of the things we try to focus on is chronic nuisances in the city,” Bucheit recently told council members. With Doubles, “I’m thankful that we were able to work with that investment group that owns the property there … They evicted the parties and (I) put them in touch with our economic development, and I think they’ve got a great plan for re-utilizing that location there, and maybe putting in a development that’s going to benefit the city, as opposed to taking resources away.”

Julian Kennamer, one of Hamble LLC’s investors, confirmed to the Journal-News that the building would be torn down.

“The building began deteriorating, contrary to agreements with the tenants. They weren’t taking care of it,” he said. “So it deteriorated to the point we decided to tear it down.”

The building started out as a Tumbleweed restaurant, a small Tex-Mex chain that is based in Louisville. It has since housed other businesses, the most recent of them, Doubles.

“We’re open to a potential sale of the property,” Kennamer said. “We’ve been told that Chick-fil-A is sniffing around that part of Hamilton, and of course, I think that would be a perfect fit for them.”

If not a sale, the company might be interested in a ground lease, but only if the potential tenant “were solid enough,” Kennamer said.

“All I can tell you for certain is the building is going to be demolished within the next few weeks,” he said.

People interested in the property can contact George Flynn of Anchor Associates at 513-784-1106.

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