Havana Rumba, DelFrisco, Charim hit by building closure

[Robin Garr]

A friend who takes her dog to a groomer in the small strip on Oechsli (behind where the old Sears used to be) is reporting that the building was apparently condemned by inspectors today, forcing the businesses to vacate immediately. See below for follow-up.

[Robin Garr]

Yes, bad news. I still have only the outlines, but people at Del Frisco's and the Middletown Havana Rumba confirm that the Oechsli Avenue shops were ordered closed today. Half Peach and Charim Korean, in the same building, are reporting on their FB pages that they were forced to close July 19 because of "a falling roof" in their part of the building.

No word on reopening, but the fragmentary information we have makes it sound very serious.

[Robin Garr]

A friend who takes her dog to a groomer in the small strip on Oechsli (behind where the old Sears used to be) is reporting that the building was apparently condemned by inspectors today, forcing the businesses to vacate immediately. This includes Havana Rumba, Del Frisco, Charim Korean and Half Peach, as well as the dog groomer and possibly other businesses in the building. See below for follow-up.

Oh my Mags has a grooming appointment in the morning!

Here's a link to the story on WDRB: https://www.wdrb.com/news/roof-collapse ... 0dbcf.html

[Robin Garr]

WLKY-32 is on the story.
https://www.wlky.com/article/multiple-b ... e/28523893

A sad day. Charim and the stalls east of Havana Rumba were covered in red tape a few days ago, then fenced off shortly thereafter, but the rest of the building remained operational. It looked pretty dire. On my way home today, a voice in the back of my head told me to drive by to see whether anyone was making repairs to the roof, and I encountered the same scene as the reporters, with all of the businesses in that building shuttered.

Since it's my "go to" restaurant, I feel very lucky to have dined at "the original" Havana Rumba just last night, as it sounds as if that may be the last night it is ever operational in its original location. I hope the owner(s) and the employees of HR and the other businesses are not put in a bad place as a result of this incident.

WDRB reporter's Twitter.

HR's Facebook post

We have been semi-regulars at Charims ever since that Hot Bytes meet up there years ago. Love everything about Charims.So sad for all the folks affected.

After seeing the story on WAVE3 news this evening I'm betting the entire plaza will end up being torn down. Their video now shows that entire sections of the roof have completely collapsed into Charim restaurant.

I haven't seen the news tonight, but the word on the street (I literally work on the same street) is that the building is now totally condemned. It's a terrible day for Louisville's Independent Restaurant community.

After seeing the story on WAVE3 news this evening I'm betting the entire plaza will end up being torn down. Their video now shows that entire sections of the roof have completely collapsed into Charim restaurant.

The video looks bad. Part of the building might be salvageable, it looks like it was built in three sections with brick firewalls in between. On the other hand, it may make more sense financially to just tear it down and sell the land.

Edited to add: Had family in town this afternoon and had a late lunch / early dinner at the Middletown Havana Rumba. We were delighted to have one of the regular waiters who had been displaced from the St. Matthews location as our waiter. Food, drinks, and service were excellent, as always. I hadn't been to that location in a while and forgot how large it was, but apparently not large enough--there was a sign in the adjacent stall in the shopping center that HR is expanding into that space!

HR sues landlord - Needless to say, I'm definitely on the restaurant's side here!

I've been to both of the other HR locations and Mojito Tapas since the closure and have seen waitstaff from the St. Matthews location every time, so it looks like they are taking care of the displaced employees.

HR sues landlord - Needless to say, I'm definitely on the restaurant's side here!

I've been to both of the other HR locations and Mojito Tapas since the closure and have seen waitstaff from the St. Matthews location every time, so it looks like they are taking care of the displaced employees.

I think we are all on the side of HR in this case, hopefully all the other restaurants will do the same thing!

Glad to hear that the employees of HR are being taken care of, hopefully the employees of the other businesses affected are also being helped by other businesses.

One month later, the front section of the roof over the Charim side of the building has almost completely caved in (this appears to have happened in approximately the past week). I seriously doubt the building will ever be repaired. In the meantime, it's an eyesore.