Barden and a business partner bought the building, which is more than 100 years old. For most of the 20th-century, it was a grocery store operated by the Meiners family. The first floor space became a saloon in the 1960s and that's when the storefront windows were removed and the building didn't get a lot of tender loving care. Barden has done an almost miraculous job renovating the space. It once again has big sunny windows, along with freshly sanded and polished wood floors, an artfully redesigned bar covered with shiny plumbing copper, and a structural piece created from roof flashing and found objects.
"Everything in here was found, bought at auctions -- like the chairs, which came from a Thai restaurant -- or at ReStore, or given to us or was on the verge of being thrown away," says Barden, who sold most of the equipment and contents of the original Succotash -- and the next day, her purse was stolen with the $800 in profits. It's been one hell of a year for Barden, who not only renovated the lower level of the building, but spent hours and hours turning two decrepit railroad flat apartments on the second floor into stylish apartments. (She's looking for tenants, by the way).
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