A driver crashed into the historic Old State Bank building on Main Street the evening of April 2, 2020, destroying the door and part of the building’s foundation.
As of June 26, the building has reopened with a new business inside. Naughty Dog Books, previously located in the Heritage Mall, moved to the Main Street location after repairs were completed.
Property owner Linda Hoff said that the reconstruction of the front relied on 300 custom-made blocks. The process started in May 2020 and was completed in May this year.
“It took so long because the block was custom-made for five months,” Hoff said. “But I was able to have it rebuilt like before.”
Inside, plaster was redone, the rewiring of the front wall was completed, new paint was put on the walls, floors were cleaned and more.
“It was just a process, you know,” she said.
Hoff said she was meticulous in the process of interviewing tenants. When she met Naughty Dog Book owners Tarin Paradise and Shelby Roth, a mother-daughter duo, Hoff said that it seemed the building was custom designed for them to move in.
Hoff has owned the Old State Bank and surrounding properties since September of 1991. There are three other businesses in the complex: State Bank Arts Affair behind Naughty Dog Books and Our Little World behind Sweet Meraki Designs. There is also a classroom behind Our Little World, which will be home to do-it-yourself art classes for the businesses.
Last spring when the crash happened, a driver told police she was driving west on East Main Street when the sun prevented her from seeing and she drove the vehicle into the building.
A witness to the crash said he was on the corner of Van Buren and East Main streets when he heard the vehicle “squeal on the curb” and watched it “slam into the building,” an accident report from the Nashville Police Department states.
The building housed Joyfoli Plant Shop at the time, which opened in July 2018. They then transitioned into a mobile shop.
The building was built in 1906, according to the 1995 Brown County Interim Report. Over the years, it also had housed the Nashville Post Office; a realty office; a candy and gift shop; an antique store; the State Bank Arts Affair; Touch of Silver, Gold and Old; and a scooter and wheelchair rental store.
Naughty Dog Books opened in the Heritage Mall on Memorial Day weekend of 2020.
When Shelby Roth was driving home one night, she saw that the Old State Bank building’s repairs were complete, a chandelier hung from the ceiling and a “For Rent” sign sat in the window.
“I called my mom and we pounced on it,” Roth said. “We love it.”
They’ve expanded their merchandise, having a larger, more open location with more floor space.
Customers enter into the large open entryway filled with books and literary gifts. They can circle around through the entire building with connecting doorways that make the building an open square.
In the middle of the space is the vault, which is now home to Naughty Dog’s true crime genre.
With wood beams, high ceilings, the trim and chandelier, Roth said the “upscale, classy Brown County” aesthetic of the space is a “perfect fit” for their shop.
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Location: 76 E. Main St.
Website: naughtydogbooks.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/NDBindiana
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