ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- When Mike Duwe and his wife, Melanie, decided to turn their 20,000-square-foot gym into a cornhole arena, they weren't sure if people would come.
Fast-forward more than a month since its opening, and those people are showing up.
Cornhole Palace features space for dozens of lanes of cornhole boards, music and snacks all in the same place.Â
"It's a place for anybody who wants to have a good time," owner Mike Duwe said.
However, the space wasn't always filled with "corn stars." Until COVID-19 hit in 2020, the Duwes rented the space for their community fitness center. The pandemic forced them to close, and the lack of business left the Duwes behind on rent. They owed thousands of dollars to the landlord.
"Then, there was the birth of the Cornhole Palace," Mike said.
Mike recalls pacing the 20,000-square-foot warehouse, wondering what he'd do to make the payments.
Cornhole Palace
"This legitimately just came to me in a vision," he said.
He got to work making connections and building out his space with boards, bags, electronic scorekeepers and a concession stand for snacks. He has future plans to add a stage for live music and karaoke, dartboards, pool tables and foosball tables.
"Ultimately, it's a 20,000-square-foot building that we're just wanting to make a cool place in Etown for people to come hang out and have a good time," he said.
But for the time being, Cornhole Palace is playing host to some of the best cornhole players around the area. In fact, the winner of the first tournament was the No. 1 ranked cornhole player in the world, Daymon Dennis.
Since then, others have taken home the cash prize pot of the nightly tournaments.
The Palace opens at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Friday. It opens at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It costs anywhere from $10-20 to buy into a tournament.
Cornhole Palace
The sign out front reads "Cold beer and good times," and Duwe said that's all thanks to the blessing in disguise that was COVID-19.
"If it wasn't for that adversity, I never would've thought about doing this," he said.
A link to Cornhole Palace's website can be found by clicking here.
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