T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Don and Carina Morris stand outside Fairyland Ice Cream in Barnesville. The couple, who purchased the establishment in April, hope to open the shop in August.

BARNESVILLE — A beloved ice cream shop that closed its doors in 2018 soon will reopen under new ownership.

Carina and Don Morris of Summerfield, Ohio, purchased Fairyland Ice Cream, located along Ohio 800 south of Barnesville, at the end of April and quickly began making upgrades to the shop. The business operated from 1951 until 2018, when the previous owners made the “difficult” decision not to reopen for the season.

Carina, who is originally from Barnesville, said they wanted to bring the shop back to life.

“When you drive by it you just remember that it was open and it was such a good place to eat. We wanted to bring that back to the community,” she said. “I always wanted to have my own restaurant and when we saw this on Facebook, we started talking about it, and the next thing I knew I was messaging them about it.”

The couple is currently working to renovate the establishment. Due to the building being empty for the past few years, Carina said it was in need of some upgrades. The shop will offer the same options as before with a new interior appearance.

“The electric is all new, the plumbing is all new, new flooring. It’s just a whole new look,” she said.

Carina said they are hoping to have everything in line to open within the next few weeks.

“That’s our plan. We’re about at the end. This week the cabinets and countertops go in and the pop machine and the point of sale system goes in. … Mostly what’s left is just a little bit of plumbing and a little bit of electric work has to be finished up,” she added.

In the future, she said they plan to construct a pavilion and host live music; however, this will most likely be held off until next season.

The community has shown its support both online and in person. Carina said they have received numerous positive messages from residents excitedly awaiting the parlor’s reopening, while others have stopped by to offer their assistance and support.

“There have been so many people helping us and that have done different things for us. … Our friends have helped us work on the building, my sister has helped. We’ve had so many people reach out to us and volunteer to help and welcome us to the community, which is so nice,” she said.

“Everybody loved this place growing up. We get messages and people stop there everyday when we’re working there to see if they can help us. It’s really awesome. People are really interested in it. We’re working as fast as we can and hard as we can to get it done,” she said.

Carina said she is most looking forward to seeing the community being able to once again enjoy the village ice cream shop.

“I can’t wait to see all the people and bring it back to what it used to be,” she said. “I just think it’s going to be a great experience and hopefully we can make it as good as it was in the past. That’s my goal.”

The menu will be filled with similar food items and ice cream along with a new addition of soft service.

“We’ll still have homemade, hand-dipped ice cream. It will be plain and simple this year — just burgers, fries, hot dogs and stuff like that. It’s so late in the season, we just want to have the basics until we learn what we’re doing. It will be the same ice cream they had in the past. We make it right there,” she said.

Carina has some experience working behind the counter as she worked in the kitchen at the Senecaville Senior Center for many years. She said this will be a bit different but looks forward to the challenge.

The couple is hoping to open Fairyland Ice Cream sometime in August. Information regarding the exact opening date will be announced in the near future on the ice cream shop’s Facebook page. The Morrises are looking to hire a few employees. Applications can also be found on the page.