<body><div>MENTONE, Ala. (WAFF) - New property owners broke ground Tuesday on a development at the site of the former Hitching Post, a building that served as a store, post office and gathering place in Mentone for more than a century before it was destroyed by fire in 2023.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0GWZ37_1FFPp3h800" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0GWZ37_1FFPp3h800" width="1300" height="729" ><figcaption>Mentone Hitching Post site breaks ground on new development (WAFF 48)</figcaption></figure>Rick and Mary Gresham Barr joined community leaders and project partners for the groundbreaking. The Barrs said the site will become a new community center and restaurant.Mary Gresham Barr said the Hitching Post served as a landmark for her family for generations.“The Hitching Post was always my sign post as a child and then as we brought our children up, they’d say look it’s the Hitching Post and we gotta turn right. Hitching Post was a sign post. It was the heart of this community,” Mary Gresham Barr said.Mary Gresham Barr said the building was also an economic driver for the town.“Square dancing in the 50’s, people remember buying their gas, it used to be the post office,” Mary Gresham Barr said.Rick Barr said the project has drawn input from the community.“Really it has been a community effort. There have been so many people involved in the planning here and so many people have sent us words of encouragement and they’re so thankful that the center of Mentone will now have life in it again,” Rick Barr said.Part of the new development will include a larger location for Elevation Bistro, a local farm-to-table restaurant in Mentone.“It’s a huge elevation, pun intended. It’s a huge honor and responsibility because this was the town’s center a hundred plus years, long before I got here,” said Kevin Dunlap, owner and chef of Elevation Bistro.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3l6cKo_1FFPp3h800" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3l6cKo_1FFPp3h800" width="1300" height="730" ><figcaption>Mentone Hitching Post site breaks ground on new development (WAFF 48)</figcaption></figure>Construction is expected to last through 2027, with the location opening as soon as next summer.</div></body>

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MENTONE, Ala. (WAFF) - New property owners broke ground Tuesday on a development at the site of the former Hitching Post, a building that served as a store, post office and gathering place in Mentone for more than a century before it was destroyed by fire in 2023. Rick and...

Mentone Hitching Post site breaks ground on new development

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MENTONE, Ala. (WAFF) - New property owners broke ground Tuesday on a development at the site of the former Hitching Post, a building that served as a store

Mentone Hitching Post site breaks ground on new development

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