The two-story building located at 609 Broadway recently received some renovations and now houses a unique addition thanks to a couple who have a heart for downtwon Cape, but the story behind the building goes way back.

The building was originally owned by Phil Haman who decided to raze the one-story building, that housed his drugstore, in June 1927 in order to erect a new building at the same location. While the new building was under construction, Haman moved his drugstore to another location on Broadway. In June 1956, C.W. Bauerle purchased the buildling and business from Haman, who had decided to retire after 48 years of being a druggist. Since then, the building has had a few different owners and has been home to many businesses includuing an enterprise operation, a camera shop and a gun store.

Charlie Bertrand, antiquer and owner of Spanish Street Mercantile, originally visited the building last year with the intent of purchasing some old cabinets. Once he realized that all of the cabinets were still intact and that the space housed a lot of historical provenance, he decided that he didn't want to disrupt that. He also soon found out that the upstairs housed a few apartments that were immaculate, but dated.

After some thought on how to move forward, Charlie and his wife, Lisa, purchased the building in early 2012 from Robert and Linda Bohnsack with a vision for the space. The Bertrands had recently stayed in a few vacation rental properties in St. Louis and decided that downtown Cape was missing this element, so they started forming plans to make it happen.

Having done work at Cape's Cream of the Crust, an ice cream shop that is part of Spanish Street Mercantile, they already had the right people on board to carry out the renovations. Tim Roth, a local artist and wood worker, and Raymond Petzoldt, a local carpenter, completed the majority of the work between mid 2012 and early 2013. As Charlie tries to do with all of his projects, they were able to incorporate many unique features into the space including the tin ceiling tile from The Mule Lip that closed in the early 1980s, a banister from a farmhouse in Old Appleton and a desk that belonged to Mr. Haman, the original owner of the building.

The Broadway Loft opened for business in March 2013 and some unique guests have stayed there since, including members of the Native Americans' Water Walk and some of the crew that has been in town for the filming of Gone Girl. More information about the loft along with reservations can be found on Vacation Rentals by Owner and the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau website.