KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A business owner wants to transform a nightclub with a troubled history.
April Hardin is hoping her hair salon and beauty school will help the community move on from a high-profile shooting.
Authorities boarded up the North Knoxville nightclub called "The Vibe" back in April after a deadly shooting.
Early Sunday morning on March 31st, 25-year-old Jessie Roberts was killed while at a nearby Krystal restaurant drive-thru when multiple shots were fired in front of the club off North Broadway.
She was never at the club that night.
"I'm very excited to bring something new and fresh," Hardin said.
Hardin knows all about that history, and wants to move forward.
"It means a lot to me to give back to the community in that way," Hardin said.
She's opening The Dream Institute.
"It's actually a full-service salon, we also have a barber shop, we also have a tattoo studio, and then the beauty school as well," Hardin said.
Hardin hopes the hair salon services and training for future cosmetologists will have a positive effect on the community after the violence here.
"I look forward to doing that, and also hoping that I don't get any type of reflection on what was previously here because I am totally different than what a nightclub is or an after hours spot," Hardin said.
Michael Duerr lives nearby in the Edgewood Park Neighborhood.
He says The Dream Institute is exactly what the community was hoping for.
"Her ideas of expansion to a beauty school upstairs--that just enhances the entire neighborhood," Duerr said. "It enhances, actually, the entire city."
"I'm wanting to provide more stable income for people that are interested in obtaining a career in the beauty industry," Hardin said.
Hardin said her hope is to brighten futures in a place with a dark past.
"I'm working hard to get that done, but most definitely, it's going to happen," Hardin said.
Hardin said she's planning on a ribbon cutting ceremony for the salon's opening in a couple of weeks.
She plans to open the beauty academy in early Fall.