Hart County Tourist Commission Executive Director Sandra Wilson has said she and other county officials want “to establish ourselves as a destination.”

It’s been largely a mission accomplished so far, with 11 Hart County attractions selected as winners or finalists in Kentucky Living’s 2022 Best of Kentucky awards.

In addition to its caves – Hidden River Cave, Onyx Cave and part of Mammoth Cave National Park – the county has Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo and Dutch Country Safari Park for animal lovers, Dennison’s Roadside Market, 5 Broke Girls and Farmwald’s Restaurant and Bakery for foodies, and Horse Cave KOA Holiday for camping aficionados.

And now, a business shutdown in Horse Cave might boost the county’s fortunes even further.

The Horse Cave Adult Book Store, which county officials described in court filings as a “house of prostitution,” has been closed. Hart Circuit Judge Charles Simms III mandated the closure of the adult bookstore in an injunction entered last week.

The store – which had been located in a very high-profile spot along Interstate 65 – had been cited for more than 30 violations in a three-year period of local ordinances requiring a permit to operate a place of entertainment, and several arrests were made in that period on charges of indecent exposure, based on undercover officers observing people engaging in sexual contact inside the store, the Daily News’ Justin Story reported.

And during a recent investigation into two deaths on the premises that occurred in the back room of the store, police found that the store had been selling poppers, the street name for a recreational drug similar in composition to amyl nitrate that is sold illegally as a sexual enhancement drug.

In most cases, when a business is shut down or closes of its own accord, many residents bemoan the loss and perhaps even take steps to resurrect the fallen enterprise. In Hart County, we have seen none of that.

“I’ve had several phone calls … from folks just saying, ‘Thank you, great job,’ ” Hart County Judge-Executive Joe Choate told the Daily News. “They’re glad to see it gone and the community has been very supportive.”

That’s totally understandable.

Hart County and its surrounding counties rely heavily upon tourism, and the popular spots have built up their names by offering welcoming family environments. It should be clear to anyone that the now-closed adult bookstore – and the alleged shenanigans that went on there – wasn’t anything close to a family environment and provided a black eye of sorts for Hart County.

The owners of the store are now under court orders not to operate a sexually oriented business anywhere in Hart County, and Hart County Attorney Justin Baird promised that “no other business like this is ever going to be on this property again.”

That’s certainly good news.

With its favorable position right off I-65, Hart County is now poised for more tourism growth. And like many in Hart County, we are glad that the Horse Cave Adult Book Store – a longtime eyesore for county officials – is no longer a threat to that progress.