Deborah Hirsch has a vision.

When the New Jersey transplant moved to Russellville four years ago, she was surprised to learn that there were no upscale restaurants in town.

And when she’s finished with her vision of a new downtown eatery, that won’t be the case any longer.

Hirsch, along with her husband Richard, moved to Russellville after purchasing the historic home next to Rhea Stadium that once served as a hospital during the Civil War.

“We were in a position where we were semi-retired and we wanted a place where we could come and decompress from the northeast,” Hirsch said. “We always take everyone involved in the sale out to dinner after we close and we were shocked when we were told that Russellville didn’t have a nice restaurant.”

So she immediately asked about the building that was for sale on the square that once held Duncan’s drug store.

After checking out the property, Hirsch decided to buy the building with the idea of turning it into an upscale dining establishment.

Since buying the old drug store, though, Hirsch took her time to make sure this was something that would fly in Russellville.

“We wanted to make sure it was something that people wanted before we went through with this,” Hirsch said. “And the response we got from everyone we have talked to about it was, ‘Yes, please!’”

Once she decided to move forward, she then proceeded to hire an architect, who looked at the dumpy, run-down building and created a new vision of what it could become.

The building has also been gutted in preparation for the massive renovation project that will cost over $1 million, according to Hirsch.

Once completed, the restaurant will have both upstairs and downstairs dining.

Downstairs will be more casual with limited seating while the upper floor will be a bit more formal and will feature the establishments “taproom,” Hirsch said.

“We think this can become a destination restaurant, but it’s also something we want the community to be able to take pride in,” Hirsch said.

The food will be a mixture of Italian and French cuisine, but will be moderately priced, Hirsch stressed.

“We want it to be affordable for everyone,” Hirsch said. “It won’t be cheap, but it won’t be expensive either.”

Hirsch said she had plans to offer everything from steaks and chops to pasta dishes and pizza – as well as daily lunch specials.

“Everything will be just fabulous,” Hirsch said. “I want a place where the Red Hat ladies can come and have a nice meal or high school kids can come for pizza and a coke or men in their work boots can come in and grab a lunch to go or even sit down and eat it right there.”

Hirsch said she is currently awaiting building permits before beginning the renovation in earnest, but once the construction begins it won’t be long before the restaurant is up and running.

“It takes time to do this right,” Hirsch said. “When all the pieces start to fall in place, you need to have a good foundation – and that’s what we’re doing.”

Hirsch said the plan right now is to have everything up and running in time for next year’s Tobacco Festival.

“If it gets finished any earlier than that, it will be a miracle,” she said.

But every good restaurant needs a good name.

And it didn’t take Hirsch long to come up with one for her new endeavor – Casa di Duncan – which mean “House of Duncan” in Italian.

“I figured once it opens, when people around town ask where the new restaurant is, they’ll just say, “Oh, it’s down on the square where Duncan’s was.’ So I just decided to use that in the name,” she said.