Pharmacy Returns to Historic Building

By Burton Speakman, The Daily News, Bowling Green, Ky.

Jul. 10–More than two years after the only pharmacy in Smiths Grove closed, residents will again have a pharmacy in the same location.

In addition, the city’s only doctor’s office has expanded at the location and will add a second physician.

A grand opening will be Friday as a way to thank the community for its support of the efforts to open a pharmacy and the medical expansion, said Dr. Pravin Avula, who previously practiced in a building just behind 124 Main St. where his new office and Smiths Grove Rx Shop is located.

Randy Young of Chalybeate will be operating his second small-town pharmacy. His other location is in Brownsville.

The building housing the two offices is part of Smiths Grove’s history, Avula said.

It was the location where Carroll Beverly ran Smiths Grove Drug Store since the 1950s before closing both the pharmacy and accompanying lunch counter in May 2006, he said.

“This was a center for the community — a lot of people came here just to talk,” Avula said. “There was a lunch counter here and a lot of the older people in the community came here for lunch every day. I came here.”

There are a lot of people who still miss the lunch stand, but there are no plans to open a new one, Young said.

Young said he has had a pharmacy in Brownsville for 10 years and will split time between the two locations.

A lot of work was done to develop the site so it can serve as both a pharmacy and doctor’s office, he said. There were no walls in part of the building when construction began.

“We basically just completely rebuilt using the footprint of the old building,” Avula said.

Avula said he recruited Young to open a pharmacy in Smiths Grove.

For the past two years, patients in Smiths Grove had to drive to Bowling Green to find the nearest pharmacy.

“I tried to get at least a half dozen pharmacists to open in Smiths Grove,” Avula said. “They all want to work at CVS or Walgreens. It takes a special kind of pharmacist to work in a small town.”

Young was already familiar with what it takes to be a small-town pharmacist, Avula said — it’s not a job you where you just clock in and clock out.

Sometimes patients require special needs the pharmacist has to be there to meet, particularly after regular hours, he said.

“I prefer being a pharmacist in a small town. People are friendly — they tend to come in and make themselves at home,” Young said.

Residents have been coming to check on progress on the new pharmacy since work began, he said.

Now Smiths Grove patients can just walk around the building for their prescriptions, instead of having to drive 15 minutes to get a prescription filled, Avula said.

Renovations at the building started in late 2007, Young said.

“People have been really excited about the new pharmacy,” he said. “They’re happy they won’t have to go to Bowling Green, especially with the high price of gas.”

This is a good opportunity for the city of Smiths Grove, Young said.

“Smiths Grove has always supported one doctor,” Avula said.

But soon Dr. David Jones will be working with Avula. In addition to people from Smiths Grove, a number of people from Edmonson County come to Smiths Grove to Avula’s office because of his experience working in Brownsville, he said.

“We’re very lucky to be able to get a doctor like David,” Avula said.

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