Small towns are near and dear to Brian McKeever’s heart.

The 34-year-old is a construction management major at Western Kentucky University who grew up in Sisterville, W.Va., and he remembers what happened when a city that depended on one major industry went into decline once that employment source left.

“Our city had one plant,” McKeever said. “It hurt us for a good 10-year period. My little hometown is still kicking, but they struggle.”

Now a Glasgow resident, McKeever recently got the chance to use his small-town experience to help out with a project in a nearby town that saw a similar fate. McKeever was one of six WKU students who presented their renovation plans for two historic buildings in Scottsville this week as part of a semester-long study.

The buildings include J.L. Turner & Son building and property and the Scottsville Freight Depot, which are both located on the east side of downtown Scottsville and are nationally registered historic places. McKeever acted as project manager for the group, which proposed mixed-use renovation plans for both sites.

For the depot, they proposed a farmer’s market and restaurant; for the Turner building and site, they proposed a mixed-use strategy that would include a museum, a recreational center/performance hall, a diner, and some small business offices and retail stores.

According to the group’s findings, the Turner building was used by Dollar General Inc. as a distribution warehouse beginning in 1955. In the 1990s, the building became vacant after the headquarters of Dollar General moved from Scottsville to Nashville. The Scottsville community has expressed a desire to renovate the building, but has struggled to find appropriate uses for it.

The depot, meanwhile, was used by the L&N Railroad until the 1970s, when it was abandoned. It now belongs to a private owner who uses it for storage.

“We took a look at the historical significance to the community,” McKeever said. “When the depot was built, it actually provided the community an outlet to get their community’s products out to the rest of the world. It opened up the market to Scottsville. It is the perfect place for a farmer’s market - it helped the farmers back then, why not help them today?”

WKU geography and geology faculty member Dr. Yanmei Li developed the project for the rural planning course this semester and worked closely with the Hearts of Scottsville and the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation, which are involved in evaluating ways to renovate historic buildings in the Scottsville community.

Li said those who attended a briefing on the findings Wednesday were impressed by the report, and she hopes the plans will be used.

“The board and the city need to discuss further about the proposal. We would be happy if they can take our suggestions in the future,” Li said. “They never realized that they can do something in that depot. That depot was in very poor condition. People just ignored it and never realized that there might be some opportunity to satisfy the needs of the residents. The mixed use plans for the J.L. building would create jobs and provide a place for citizens to have recreational activities.”

Li said the students conducted intensive research on the buildings’ histories, evaluated existing conditions in the community and developed a community needs assessment. They also led multiple field trips, interviewed city officials, and interacted with multiple Scottsville and Allen County agencies to obtain firsthand data, which helped them render maps and conceptual drawings using state-of-the-art software.

Other students involved with the project included Brent Cary, a geology major and city and regional planning minor from Burkesville; Rachel Cushman, a social work major from Redford, Mich.; Barry Kennedy, a graduate student in history from Russellville; Christopher Morris, a broadcasting major and geography minor from Louisville; and David Thomas, a political science major and city and regional planning minor from Fort Thomas.

Li said the project provided the opportunity to learn about preserving the character of small communities while planning for unique projects that can push a town forward with modern ideas.

For McKeever, who also owns GenCon, a Glasgow-based contracting business, the project gave him more experience as a builder who specializes in historical preservation as well.

“The project was interesting to me and right up my alley,” McKeever said.