The building that housed a now-shuttered burger joint that was once a fixture in the Starkville dining experience has a new owner who hopes to bring it new life.
Kim Moreland, of Moreland Inc., officially purchased the building at 446 Hwy. 12 last week that had been home to Christy’s Hamburgers for more than three decades. She said she hopes to revamp and renovate the building, then market it for a new business to lease.
“I’m just going to try and give it a face lift and make it look better on (Highway) 12,” Moreland said. “We are planning on starting renovations next week. We are not going to lease to another restaurant. It will be for commercial retail or office space.”
Christy’s closed its doors earlier this spring. The building now sits empty with the Christy’s burger mural still painted on the wall. The burger joint announced its closure with a white sign poised in the restaurant’s door and a Facebook comment on Christy’s Facebook page at the end of March.
“There is a sign on the door that says we are closed,” Owner Todd Burkis commented. “We are closed for good. We closed our business.”
Burkis could not be reached for comment by press time today.
The restaurant first opened in Starkville in the 1980s and became a popular place for Starkville residents and visitors to get big, greasy burgers, French fries and chicken tenders. There was once also a location in Columbus, which closed in 2014.
Also on Highway 12 in Starkville, Owens Outfitters has officially opened for business. The archery and outdoors store opened this week at Middleton Court in a portion of the former Sports Center. Owens is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Over in Columbus, entrepreneur Eryn Jackson is looking to give back to her hometown.
Construction is underway at 1807 Hwy. 45 N. for Kidz-N-Play. Slated to open in July, Jackson said the indoor playground will have a ball pit, imagination center, dance floor, painting and more.
“I wanted to bring back something to my hometown,” Jackson said. “When we leave Columbus, we don’t put something back to it. When I was little, there was nothing for me to do except play basketball. If it’s not softball or basketball, I wasn’t going anywhere. There’s just not a lot of things for kids to do between 1 and 8 years old. That’s an important time for kids to interact. I wanted something I could put my heart into.
“A lot of kids can’t afford a big playroom,” she added. “They can come to Kidz-N-Play and play with that nice kitchen they wanted for Christmas.”
In downtown Columbus, Second Ave Nutrition will host its grand opening on Saturday. Michael and Rachel Womack are opening the loaded tea store at 424 Second Ave. N. The nutrition store will open Saturday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. for the grand opening. Normal business hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
