Greg Barnette/Daily News

An apartment building, though new to Bowling Green, has become, like the locomotive and automobile, a necessity, reads a 1912 ad for St. James Apartments, located at 1133 Chestnut St.The advertisement for Bowling Greens first apartment building, published at the time of its construction, shows a building that looks practically the same as it does today. It offers a raft of conveniences and promises maintenance to alleviate the servant question. In short, household troubles will be minimized and housekeeping even without a servant will be made pleasant, the ad says. The three-story building, built by Adrian C. Humphries of Louisville, was bought in September by Brent Wimpee. Ive always had an interest in the property since I was going up here at Western, Wimpee said. I was just driving by one day and saw a for sale sign. St. James was designed as luxury apartments, and just 20 years ago it was still elegant, he said. Now its eight apartments house mostly Western Kentucky University students. Its Western connection runs back many years: Longtime librarian Margie Helm, for whom Westerns main library is now named, lived in apartment No. 2 until the 1980s, Wimpee said. In July 2001, fire broke out in the kitchen of Helms former first-floor apartment. It did $50,000 damage but was confined to that apartment. No one was hurt. Despite the wear and tear of 92 years, many of the buildings original fixtures are intact, from antique doorbells to metal radiators. Even the original boiler still squats in the basement to pump steam through the radiator tubing, although its been converted from coal-fire to gas. The building boasts wide front balconies and windows. Prominent brackets support the eaves and elaborate brickwork decorates the buildings front. Wimpee, president of Southern Kentucky Building and Remodeling, plans to do an extensive rehabilitation of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Id like to have it converted into condominiums, Wimpee said. I know they have the potential to become something really nice. But if its converted to condos, the building will have to meet all code standards for new construction, he said. Hes still deciding if that will be feasible; and it will probably take a year to get started. But even if it stays as apartments, Wimpee plans to fix up and restore the apartments one by one as tenants move out, he said. Wimpee plans to redo the plastering, plumbing and electric, but keep the original fixtures and redo the hardwood floors with the help of his wife, Littia. Shes going to be involved in most all the decorating, he said.