OUR STORY

Hi friends, we are Robert & Mandi McKinzie! We love God, our family, our community and our beautiful grandbabies.  Becoming grandparents has been our favorite chapter thus far!  We have 3 children: Aaron, Ashton & Jackson. Aaron and his wife, Chassedi live in Pittsburgh, Kansas. Ashton and her husband, Aaron live in Leitchfield, and Jackson and his soon-to-be wife, Haleigh live locally as well.  We have one grandbaby, Eleanor, and another on the way.  We can’t wait!

 

I (Mandi) was born and raised in Leitchfield.  I can’t imagine anywhere else to call home. Robert is from Kansas and moved to Leitchfield to marry me. He’s a keeper!  We both have an extreme passion for our sweet little community.  Robert recently retired from Corporate America and I am Co-Owner of The Storehouse Coffee Shop.

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When I was a little girl, our historic downtown was the place to be. That’s where you went to eat, shop, ride your bike, hangout with friends and catch a movie. In the late 80’s, the theatre, restaurant, and hotel closed and soon followed other shops and businesses.  Thankfully, over the last few years, more and more community members are investing and breathing new life into our History Downtown Dristrict.

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For several years, this building set vacant with boarded up windows and doors.  It was heartbreaking.  I had so many wonderful childhood memories in here. For a period of time my dad lived in the hotel after he and my mom divorced. I watched endless movies in the theatre and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the hotel diner. I can remember running many miles in the hotel hallways and hanging out on the staircase and the rooftop with my older brother.

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Fast forward to 2021, God put it on our hearts to do something big by bringing this Old Building back to life.  With 22,000 square feet, we had no idea what we were getting into, but we trusted God knew what He was doing.  Over the last 2.5 years, this building has been a true labor of love.  Because we were private individuals, we didn’t qualify for any state or federal historical grants.  We have literally poured our life savings into this project with no regrets.  At retirement age, you would think we would invest our money into making life as smooth and carefree as possible…. But this building and renovation has given us a greater purpose and passion for helping build and grow our community for our future grandbabies, family and friends and community members. We have truly found joy in bringing this old girl back to life.