Commercial Locksmith in Lexington, KY

Storefronts downtown

Lexington's street grid was first platted in 1780, and its oldest blocks make up the Downtown Commercial District, on the National Register since 1983. The district's 70 contributing properties date from about 1805 to 1955 and are mostly commercial buildings on Main, Short, Upper, Mill and Limestone streets. Some of them replaced buildings lost to fires in 1875 and 1917.

That spread of dates means neighbors can have very different entrances: an older wood door in one building, a later replacement entry next door, a rear door that is different again. An older wood door may carry a mortise lock. When you request commercial locksmith work, describe each door, its frame and its lock, not just the front.

Security upgrades and H-1 review

Where a building sits in an H-1 overlay, a Certificate of Appropriateness under Section 13-7 of the zoning ordinance is the first question before any exterior change. The city's Review of Elements chart lists security grilles and replacement storefront components among the items staff may approve, and it sends major storefront rehabilitation and new openings to the Board of Architectural Review. Work on the lock itself leaves the facade alone, but a grille, a new door or a new handle set is visible from the street, so check with the Division of Historic Preservation first. This is general information, not legal advice.

Turnover and key control

Storefronts change hands and staff come and go. When a lease ends or an employee leaves without returning a key, rekeying the exterior doors retires the old copies. In a building with entrances of different ages, decide which doors should share a key and which should not. A few habits make turnover easier:

• keep a written log of who holds which key
• issue staff keys only for the doors they use
• collect keys on an employee's last day
• ask the landlord which locks belong to the building, such as a shared rear entry

In your request, give the address, the number of doors, the lock on each and whether the building sits in an H-1 district. Kentucky Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Lexington. The Lexington page has more on downtown.