HOMETOWN HEARTACHE

A few days after the July 4 holiday in 2021, Hometown Hardware in Kimball opened its doors and celebrated June as a "super" financial month. They had made it through COVID and were looking forward to the summer months.

"We were never going to get rich," Marilyn Patterson said. "You just hope you can pay your wages and pay your bills. We always paid our bills."

The building at 212 S. Chestnut has been a centerpiece of the downtown area for generations, but the future of Hometown Hardware and the long history of a hardware store located in that spot is now questionable. Marilyn Patterson said, "We are at the point we don't know what to do. We are trying to hang on for as long as possible."

According to records, the Hometown Hardware building was built in 1917, and in the 1930s and '40s the building was an International Harvester dealership. With little storage space, new tractors were loaded on the freight elevator and stored in the basement.

After purchasing the hardware store from Joe Morris in 1951, Jim and Vonis Bourret moved the store in 1956 to the current location.

Dick and Irene Patterson, along with Arlie and Marilyn Patterson, purchased the building in 1974 and ran Patterson Hardware and NAPA Auto Parts there until 1998, when the Browns purchased the hardware building.

In 2005, the building was returned to the Pattersons, and they started Hometown Hardware with Arlie and Marilyn's son, Rich, as the manager. Hometown Hardware has been a mainstay of the community for the past 18 years.

Marilyn and Rich said that July 12, 2021, was the start of a downward spiral, financial disaster and ruination for the longtime Kimball hardware family.

Unbeknownst to the Pattersons, at 11:22 p.m. July 11, a Sunday evening, Kimball dispatch was contacted as water was bubbling up through the asphalt on Chestnut Street in the heart of the business district. A 6-inch city water main had cracked and was broken. It was believed that the water main had been leaking for some time.

Throughout the night, water continued to gush out of the broken main because the shut-off valve was inoperable. On Monday, with water still flowing, city employees were forced to dig out another spot of the main about 20 feet to the south and install an Inst-Valve to stop the flow of water.

By 8 o'clock Monday, the 5,000-square-foot basement floor of Hometown Hardware was under 4½ feet of water, and the water was still gushing in. Water reached the electrical outlets in the basement by mid-morning.

To this day, the Pattersons said they cannot pinpoint where the water came gushing in, but they said they could hear it like a waterfall.

The electricity was quickly shut off, but stunned by the sheer volume of water in the basement and not knowing what to do, Marilyn and Rich were in shock. Even though Jerry Brown from B & B Water Well Service came immediately to start pumping water out, the damage was done. Brown estimated that 60,000 gallons of water were pumped from the basement, and seven roll-off dumpsters were filled with items from the basement.

On the following day, Tuesday the remaining water in the basement apparently seeped down through the cement floor because just a few inches of water were apparent on Tuesday.

The business was closed for six weeks for cleanup and safety concerns, "but it didn't matter because we lost our customer base," Marilyn said.

The Pattersons said the opening of Kimball Ace Hardware and new dollar stores have not affected their business, and the water main break is the cause of their problems. The Observer has sought comment from the city on the matter.

The 100-year-old basement had been designated as a community fall-out shelter and a tornado shelter. No one anticipated that a water main break would leak thousands of gallons of water and flood the entire basement.

The Pattersons said the basement was considered a perfect place for the storage of family heirlooms and other important items. The basement housed business records, family pictures, shelving, antiques, excess inventory, pipe-cutting and threader machines, and numerous other items.

Today, Rich and Marilyn blame health, financial, and emotional issues on the devastating effects the water main break. They said their trust has been shattered by the lack of response from the City of Kimball, which maintains the water main, the failure of adequate compensation from insurance companies, and the legal system's handling of their claims regarding the water main break.

Marilyn said that due to the age of the building the insurance company depreciated its value.

"We have lost the heart to continue in business," Marilyn said.

The Pattersons said humidity is now recorded at 80% in the basement, and hairline cracks have appeared throughout the basement. They said questions remain about the structural integrity of the building and the dampness and mold in their building's once pristine basement.

Hometown Hardware's finances are at a critical stage. Last week, Rich said he had to "let go" of their only employee because they could not afford to pay him anymore.

It could be only a matter of time before the iconic hardware store disappears from downtown.