Out with the adult bookstore, in with ...

One man's dirty book store is another man's opportunity. The building that has housed a porn shop on Main Street for more than 30 years has been empty for barely a month, and today we learn that it's been sold and has a brighter future than its avert-your-eyes past.

Barely six weeks ago, on Feb. 27, Downtown's only remaining "adult" bookstore, the covered-window storefront inaptly-named Racine News, next to Salute Italian Restaurant, closed for good, after operating at 316 Main Street since 1976. Although it looks as though Racine News and Salute, at 314 Main, are in the same building, they are separate structures.

On Wednesday, the building was sold to Doug and Sara Nicholson -- he of the Ivanhoe Pub and she an optometrist at Warren Eye Care Center.

The Nicholsons, who did most of the renovation of the Ivanhoe themselves five years ago, gutting it with the help of family and friends, are not sure what they're going to do with the building, beyond fixing it up. "Ideally, I would like to open another business that adds to the quality of life for the citizens of Racine," Doug said. "I do not plan on selling the building; this is not going to be a flip-that-building scenario."

Doug and Sara have been married for five years, are the proud parents of Laura and are expecting again in the fall. In January, Doug Nicholson was given two key awards by the Downtown Racine Corporation: the Downtown Champion Award, for being a catalyst in improving downtown; and the Downtown Showcase Award for creating the St. Patrick's Day Parade.