The closing of the Parkette has devastated me. As a business owner, as a preservation enthusiast, as someone who has grown up completely enthralled with all things vintage and nostalgic, and most of all as someone born and raised in Lexington. Although I don’t reside in Lexington today, I still consider it my home as I work there daily, most of my family and friends live there, and it’s still where I spend most of my time. My parents grew up there too and would tell me amazing stories of the places of the past, already gone, mostly downtown but throughout Lexington: Woolworth’s, Wolf Wiles, Purcell’s, Begley’s drugstores, just to name a few. Thanks to them I grew up going to staples like Kelly’s on Southland Drive, Dawahares in Gardenside, the Kentucky theater, Slone’s Grocery, and countless more, and of course, the Parkette.