Prattville’s Picker House Restaurant, with its million-dollar view, coming soon to downtown
Article written by Sarah Stephens of Elmore Autauga News
Wednesday evening was a monumental day for the historic preservation of downtown Prattville.
Officials, residents and lovers of history were present for the groundbreaking of the Picker House, which will soon be renovated into a beautiful restaurant with decks overlooking Autauga Creek.
Bradley Neave is on the Historic Preservation Redevelopment Authority and introduced Karen and Darin Phillips as the new owners of the 165-year-old building. Under their ownership, it will be redeveloped, reconstructed, and offer a “million-dollar view.”
The Phillips are residents of Prattville and said this marks off a huge bucket list item with the redevelopment of the historical building.
Neave explained that a quick conversation some time back led to Karen and Darin taking a tour of the Picker House.
“Ever since the word ‘go’ they have been the perfect partners for HPRA and the perfect partners for the City of Prattville. We know they are going to bring something excellent here. They have put in a lot of hard work. They have an incredible staff here already.”
Neave spoke of all of the Dinner in the District nights over the years, and the wishes for those type of activities to be more prevalent.
“With Darin and Karen, this is going to become a reality.”
The future restaurant and all of its offerings are expected to be ready for business near the end of 2025.
HPRA Chairman Emeritus Tom Newton offered a prayer over the event, and for the future of this endeavor.
Neave said that the years of work and planning to preserve the Picker House was made possible by multiple agencies and individuals. “This just didn’t happen overnight,” he said.
Neave introduced new HPRA board members, saying that a lot of what the agency does is not always in the public eye.
“A lot of what we do is sitting around in rather boring meetings trying to figure out how to help Prattville and how to make the place better,” Neave said. “When you get to do something as special as this, that will have a truly public benefit, it is really nice.”
Chambless King Architects group was represented at the event. This is the same group that worked on the beautiful preservation of The Mill Apartments.
“And that turned out absolutely fantastic. They will be keeping the themes going and hopefully that will culminate with the Spillway Park as well.”