Longtime Montgomery business The Olive Room closes

Silence fills The Olive Room just days after the restaurant served its final meal.

"We've been thinking about it for months and months and trying to avoid doing it," says owner Ken Register.

Register says the beginning of the end came two years ago when a fire destroyed the restaurant next door--a building he also owned.

While it didn't affect The Olive Room, paying for repairs eventually did.

"The costs were about four times what was expected and insurance just didn't cover it all. So it left us in a really bad position to do what we needed to do."

But he couldn't have picked a better time--just as all eyes are on Downtown Montgomery.

"These three buildings are on the market now and there's a lot of activity. People are looking at these buildings."

"I'm hopeful that downtown will continue to have its upward trajectory and I think this is a great location," says Patrick Yarborough.

Yarborough lives downtown. He visited The Olive Room often.

"This is a part of town that needs more good businesses particularly to service the professional clientele that's down here," says Yarborough.

Register believed he was doing just that.

Now, he hopes to pass that task to someone else just as eager.  All the while, he's confident his work helped efforts to energize the capital city.

"We have made a difference and I'm proud of it,"says Register.

City leaders say their retail consultant is available to assist in finding a tenant for The Olive Room.

Register says you can still contact the restaurant until the end of the month.

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