The transformation of the Fairview Avenue neighborhood near U.S. 31-W By-Pass is nearly complete as a new pharmacy is built, a building is renovated and a new optometrist center opens.

The renovation of the McGuffey Building and the new three-story Nation’s Medicines building have only a little time left before they are finished, but pharmacist and developer Steve Sheldon’s $5 million investment on Fairview Avenue is already drawing in new tenants.

Sheldon Enterprises Chief Financial Officer Bruce Wilkerson said Card Mart will move in to the lower retail space area on the first floor of the Nation’s Medicines building.

Card Mart is currently located at 1689 Campbell Lane, near Hollywood Video and Kinko’s.

Wilkerson also said a nurse practitioner will open Corner Care Clinic, a business that will handle minor ailments like the cold and flu, as well as administer flu shots.

&#8220We’ll be making an announcement closer to opening time,” Wilkerson said.

The brickwork for the McGuffey Building is complete, and now the focus is on interior detail work, Wilkerson said.

&#8220We’re finishing up the upstairs. The last unit is under construction now,” Wilkerson said, and that should take about two weeks.

&#8220We’ll have to wait until the warmer weather to finish the parking,” he said

Architectural renderings that date back to the ’60s, when it was originally built, show that the McGuffey Building was originally named the Fairview Building.

&#8220It always had the name Fairview Building, but the McGuffeys threw their name up there too because they had an insurance business at the time,” Wilkerson said.

Landscaped brick in front of the building now boasts the building’s original name.

Several new tenants will or have already opened offices in the Fairview Building. They include:

-Prestige Title, a company that handles administrative tasks for attorneys

-Roger Welch, a certified public accountant

-AccuServe, a surveying company

-The Lyons, a commercial HVAC contractor

Dr. Gerald E. Sullivan’s ophthalmologist practice, Smith Optical, Arnold Taylor Tax Service, Chambers and Clark Hearing Aid Service and Wrap It Up Beauty Salon also remain in the Fairview Building.

Behind the Fairview Building, a new four-plex building hosts Hot Yoga, a business that specializes in doing yoga in 105-degree heat. The owners are Tony and Anice Bishop.

The Better Business Bureau, along with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, have moved into upstairs offices of Cambridge Square. Laser Solutions, Chaney’s Dairy Barn, American Homepatients, Select Incorporated – which is a company that recruits physicians – Imagination Stations, Cambridge Market and the existing Nation’s Medicines also remain.

&#8220We’re in negotiation with someone else right now,” Wilkerson said.

The Dr. Lowell C. Ware Eye Care building at 952 Fairview Ave. has opened.

Located next to Farmers National Bank, the only thing left to do is put a sign on the building, Ware said.

&#8220We’re mostly done. We still have a few odds and ends to finish up,” Ware said.

Ware said his practice features the top-of-the-line glaucoma diagnosis instruments, retinal imaging system and a full-service optical center.

The 9,600-square foot building cost $500,000 for IKON Construction to build, which didn’t take long – something Ware calls &#8220extraordinary.”

&#8220It feels very good. This process has taken nine months, from purchasing the property to looking at the (finished) building,” Ware said.

Ware said he was proud of having most of the interior work performed by local businesses, including the custom-made cabinetry, computer system, telephones and carpentry.

The grand opening for the center is 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 3. The ribbon cutting is at 10 a.m. Feb. 5.

Ware is carrying about 7,000 patients into the new center, who are coming from his former practice at Breiwa, Ware and Jeskie at 811 Fairview Ave. Ware is also accepting new patients, he said.

The center employs 11 people – nine part-time and two part-time, Ware said.

&#8220We have a helpful and friendly staff,” he said.

The building is on the site of the former Rita’s Pub, which previously had been the Briar Patch restaurant, a steakhouse.

Ware, a graduate of Indiana University School of Optometry, has been practicing optometry in Bowling Green for 14 years.

Service One Credit Union remodels

In October, a drunk driver ran through the front side of Service One Credit Union’s building at 543 US 31-W By-Pass.

&#8220So now, we are going to remodel. … We are adding a drive-thru, and revamping the inside,” Manager Nancy Ware said.

The remodeling plans have shifted several times, but Nancy Ware said the bank will see a total remodel.

Rob Atnip, SOCU’s facilities manager, is coordinating the whole project.

&#8220We’re going to put a drive-thru in, renovate the interior lobby and resurface the parking lot,” Atnip said.

Cost estimates for the project were not available.

Construction on the exterior by MB Contracting will start in two weeks, but in a week and a half, customers will be able to see changes to the interior of the building, Atnip said.

&#8220We have a wonderful architect, David Bryant,” Atnip said. &#8220He’s so creative, he just keeps coming up with ideas.”

&#8220It will be slow at first and pick up pace as we go,” Atnip said. &#8220We hope to be finished by April 15,” weather permitting.