Attorney Justin Meeks has moved into his newly renovated office space at 1801 S. National Avenue after months of hard work.
“It would’ve been way cheaper to tear down and build new,” he said. “But we saved the building….it’s got lots of character.”
Character such as original walls with a hand-painted sign and names sketched in concrete from a different era, which were both preserved.
And a great location with Hwy. 69 and National Avenue in close proximity.
The building was renovated and now is the home to Justin Meeks Attorney at Law and Kale Nelson State Farm Insurance.
Meeks is also the Bourbon County Counselor for the county government, which is a part-time position. The new space is for his private law practice, which is also part-time.
“I moved into this space for my private law practice in late June,” Meeks said. “It’s a very limited private practice: probate, business transactions, human resource issues, contract work, landlord-tenant issues, and banking issues.”
As of October 1, Meeks has been the Bourbon County Counselor for five years. “I’ve been out of private practice for five years,” Meeks said.
“I like helping people, that’s why I’m going back into a limited part-time practice,” Meeks said.
His office hours are Monday through Thursday, appointment only; Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m.
History Of The Property
Justin Meeks and Kale Nelson purchased the circa 1925 building last year.
The new office spaces have had many repurposings through the years: a machine shop, Lockwood’s Steakhouse, various liquor store owners including Silver Spur Bar, a pet shop, a vape shop and other business entities.
The renovated building was first used for a machine shop, Meeks was informed by people in the community.
There is a handwritten sign on the exposed brick in his entrance space that says “Leave Tools After Used.”
Then the shop was added onto in the 1960-70s, according to Meeks.
On the concrete floor in a closet, the names Patty Chow and Sharon Manyo are sketched into the concrete.
That’s part of the character of the building that was preserved.
Ribbon Cutting
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the new location of State Farm Insurance, 1805 S. National Avenue and Meeks Law Firm at 1801 S. National Avenue on Thursday, August 8 following the Chamber of Commerce Coffee, which starts at 8 a.m.
Owner of the property is JK Hold’M Properties, a partnership of Meeks and Nelson.
The public is invited to the ribbon-cutting to view the transformation of the buildings to updated and modernized offices.
