Conrad’s Store in Elkton has been sold! Elkton resident Pham Chopra plans to upgrade the building.
ELKTON Conrad’s Store, an icon of days gone by in this little eastern Rockingham County town, was sold last week.
Elkton resident Pham Chopra purchased the building from the estate of Frances Dennen Miller for $75,000. The purchase was recorded in Rockingham County Circuit Court on Oct. 21.
Chopra said he plans to upgrade the building.
I see this as a privilege and a responsibility to bring it to its rightful place in Elkton today, he said via email on Monday.
Conrad’s Store was a general store built in 1812. In 1816, it became a U.S. post office with George Conrad as its first postmaster. During the Civil War, Conrad’s Store was operated as a Confederate post office.
In September 1866, postal service was briefly discontinued and intermittently resumed and discontinued over the next decade until 1881, when Elkton was adopted as the town’s name.
The purchase of Conrad’s Store was just one of seven Chopra closed on this month. He also purchased:
* Some 189 acres of land for $2.5 million from the town. The land, which includes the Kite Mansion east of town on U.S. 33 and property north of Mount Pleasant Road, was formerly owned by Mary Elizabeth Kite and Dr. Joseph Hiram Kite. Chopra plans to upgrade the Kite Mansion and build a hotel.
* A tract of land at 145 W. Spotswood Ave. for $40,000 from Victoria L. Leap and William Walton Leap. The land now houses S.W. Funk Industrial Contractors.
* The Leap House, 154 W. Rockingham St., for $42,000. The building was purchased from the estate of Leroy M. Leap and Norma M. Leap, who died in 2009 and 2000, respectively.
Chopra said he is considering opening a bed and breakfast there after extensive remodeling.
* Hobby Robinson’s former department store and the adjacent Appalachian Baking Co. building at 208 and 204 W. Spotswood Ave. for $117,100 from Green Meadows Property Management LLC.
* Two buildings at 106 and 110 W. Spotswood Ave. for $525,000 from Spotswood Properties of Elkton LLC, which had acquired them from Shirley Hale Broughton and Lonnie P. Hale in June. Chopra plans to use the buildings in conjunction with transitional housing for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
* A vacant dentist office building at 116 W. Spotswood Ave. for $60,500 from Latouche Properties LLC.
Chopra’s vision for his properties, which total more than 685 acres, includes establishing no-medical transitional living centers for former NBA and NFL players, who are recovering drug or alcohol addicts, and military veterans with PTSD along with senior living centers. These programs will be run through his nonprofit Akal Institute.
In September, Chopra purchased the Elkton Theater at auction from the U.S. Marshals Service for $42,500.
The theater is being restored to its original splendor, Chopra said on Monday.
Once renovated, he plans to host bluegrass and gospel music nights in the theater at 415 W. Spotswood Trail.
Article from DNROnline.com Posted: October 27, 2015 By CALEB M. SOPTELEAN Byrd Newspapers.
Photograph by Shenandoah Newz.
