Its proposed changes to the building approved by the Warren County Historic Preservation Board, Bluegrass Ingredients is moving ahead with its plan to locate its headquarters in Bowling Green’s historic Mariah Moore House.

Now based in Glasgow, Bluegrass Ingredients purchased the 200-year-old building at 801 State St. in 2020 and began renovating the interior and parts of the exterior.

On Monday, the company won approval from the historic preservation board for changes to exterior portions of the building that were added when the Mariah’s and Steamer Seafood restaurants called it home.

The board voted 5-0 to grant a certificate of appropriateness to Bluegrass Ingredients after the company’s chief executive confirmed that the proposed exterior changes would not affect the original Mariah Moore House that was built in 1818 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Nothing is proposed to change the original structure,” said Hoyt Huffman, CEO of Bluegrass Ingredients. “All the changes are to the newer part.”

That newer part includes additions and renovations to the building’s entrance made by Mariah’s and Steamer Seafood.

The changes to be made by Bluegrass Ingredients include removing wood siding and replacing it with fiber cement siding.

The company’s plans also include removing oyster shell concrete and replacing it with broom-finished concrete; removing some light fixtures; partially enclosing the second-floor patio with glass windows and fiber cement siding; and removing pergola-style awnings.

The approval means the company can proceed with those changes and complete a renovation that has moved slowly during a time of coronavirus pandemic restrictions and supply chain problems.

“We hope to be in there early next year,” Huffman said. “It’s going to be a real showpiece.”

Bluegrass Ingredients’ new headquarters will include offices as well as an innovation center and test kitchen, Huffman said last year when the building was purchased. He expects the 12,000-square-foot building to house about 20 full-time employees.

A supplier of specialty food ingredients, Bluegrass Ingredients has had its headquarters in Glasgow for more than 25 years.

The company has production facilities in Glasgow and Springfield, supplying such niche ingredients as custom dairy blends and specialty powders to food companies.

This move to new headquarters will accommodate the company’s growth and give it a larger commercial kitchen for product development.

It’s the latest in several changes for a building that has been repurposed several times.

Converted by local restaurateur Rick Kelley to Mariah’s restaurant in 1980, the building was rebuilt after a fire in 1995 and then closed in 2013 due to financial difficulties.

After entrepreneur Jerry Katzoff bought Mariah’s and moved it to Stadium Park Plaza in 2014, Owensboro native Dale Augenstein bought the historic building and converted it to the Steamer Seafood eatery that opened in 2016.

Augenstein faced a setback in 2018 when he had to rebuild after a lightning strike led to a fire in the building.

He reopened the restaurant, only to fall victim to a heavy load of debt. The building was bought by creditor Franklin Bank & Trust at a master commissioner’s sale in October 2019.

Bluegrass Ingredients bought the building from the bank and then filed an $800,000 building permit with the city of Bowling Green.

The company, which formulates and manufactures cheese powders, specialty dairy powders and specialty non-dairy ingredients, is a subsidiary of Public Pension Capital, a New York-based private equity firm.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.