The oldest and one of the best known buildings in Warren County will no longer sit vacant in downtown Bowling Green.
The Mariah Moore House on State Street has been empty since last April when Mariah's restaurant was purchased and moved across town to the new HitCents Plaza. Now WKU alumnus and philanthropist Dale Augenstein has confirmed he signed a contract to move a Steamer's Seafood restaurant into the building by the end of the summer. He declined to reveal the purchase price.
Augenstein already owns a Steamer's on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where he normally employs between 20 and 25 WKU students every summer. He's been looking to buy the Bowling Green property for a couple of years, "I've been keeping my eye on it," he said Wednesday morning, "I made an offer earlier in the year but it got rejected. I made a different offer and they accepted it."
He expects the Bowling Green restaurant to employ between 75 to 100.
Augenstein is a 1981 WKU graduate who's remained involved with the University's alumni association and fund-raising foundation, both on a local and national level. The Augenstein Alumni Center on Western's campus is named in his honor. "There's a lot more to it (than just a mere business deal)," he said," This is what I consider a real coming home for me, a full circle opportunity."
Augenstein also owns the Pink Daisy Boutique on Bowling Green's downtown Fountain Square.
