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Randy Hayes, husband of 1826 on the Green owner Lorett Hayes, helps renovate the interior of the historic Farmer’s Hall in Pendleton on Tuesday. After a hiatus from the restaurant business, Lorett is bringing food back to the nearly 200-year-old building. Photo by Andrew Moore/Staff

PENDLETON — For nearly two centuries, the Farmer’s Hall building in Pendleton has served as an iconic landmark in the Upstate. After a brief hiatus from the restaurant business, the historic building will once again open its doors to hungry patrons in June.

Restaurant owner Lorett Hayes, who previously owned Liberty Hall restaurant, said the cuisine at her new business venture will feature food such as fish, chicken, steaks and pasta.

“Lunch will be more casual,” Hayes said. “And, dinner will be more fine dining. It will still be comfortable though. I want it to be a comfortable place where people feel they can walk in here wearing shorts and sandals.”

Hayes said she’s long had her eye on Farmer’s Hall, citing its historic and cultural relevance in Pendleton. John Campbell previously owned the restaurant business side of the operation, while the building itself is owned by the Pendleton Farmer’s Society (PFS), the oldest continually active farmer’s society in the nation.

“This is a location I always thought was ideal because of its history,” Hayes said. “I think this business and this location are a perfect marriage, and hopefully Farmer’s Hall will continue to contribute to Pendleton.”

She is renaming the restaurant 1826 on the Green to honor the building’s historic background. The old Farmer’s Hall restaurant was a focal point in Pendleton for years before legal troubles may have forced Campell to go out of business there.

The restaurant was busted in February for illegally serving alcohol to an undercover SLED agent after their liquor license had expired. Hurley Badder of the PFS was quoted as saying that the citations for serving alcohol with a suspended license and illegal possession of liquor were not the only reasons for Campbell’s departure. Regardless, the lease expired, and the PFS notified Campbell that he must vacate the building within two months, leaving the town to wonder when it might be occupied again.

Now Hayes is in the middle of doing extensive renovations to the interior of the building, which she said will give Farmer’s Hall “a whole new look.”

The project, however, has taken some time. While she had tentatively set the opening of 1826 on the Green for the first week in June, she now says those waiting for the return of cuisine to Farmer’s Hall may have to wait just a little bit longer.

“We’ve said we hope to be open in early June, and my husband jokes that he’s glad we didn’t say what year,” Hayes said with a laugh. “We’re most likely looking at opening sometime in the second week of June.”