Quinn Chapel on Chestnut Street

A boarded up church dating to 1884 at 912 West Chestnut Street between 9th & 10th Streets could one day see new life as a sort of community center for the West Downtown – East Russell neighborhoods.  The old Quinn Chapel Church has a long and interesting history and is now owned by the adjacent YMCA of Greater Louisville at Chestnut and 10th Streets.  Rodney Martin, District Executive Director of the YMCA, tells us that options for the building are currently being considered and a plan could be announced as early as the end of the year.

While there are currently no final plans to discuss, it’s worth taking a look at the Gothic Revival church building and its history to discern some clues as to its future use in the neighborhood.  Quinn Chapel is one of the last remaining historic buildings in the area, as we pointed out with a view from the top of the Glassworks building.  (If you look in the 1906 photos, you can see the church, with its long-gone steeple just in front of the L&N building).  As the church has decayed over the years, it’s welcome news that it could soon see better days.

• Looking Back At The View From The Glassworks (Broken Sidewalk)

Click through to learn more about Quinn Chapel and more photos.

Historic view south from atop the Glassworks (via HABS / LOC)

Louisville’s urban core was once an incredibly dense area.  In the era of Urban Renewal, when large swaths of the city were razed en masse, though, much of the old city was lost.  Take, for example, the area roughly bounded by Sixth or Seventh Streets, Market Street, Broadway, and 14th Street.  The view above is one small slice taken from a panoramic view looking south from the top of the Snead Manufacturing plant, now known as the Glassworks on West Market Street.

That view was taken in 1906.  Today, it’s a much different scene.  The area in the photograph was literally decimated in the 20th century, and only a handful of structures still remain.  Off in the distance you can see Union Station and the L & N building (before it was enlarged).  Besides those landmarks, only a half-dozen or so churches and other buildings remain.  It’s even more devastating when you take a look at the full panorama after the click.

We went to the top of the Glassworks building this summer to recreate the view 103 years later.  Today, the area is dominated by surface level parking structures, two high rise apartment buildings, the Beecher Terrace housing project and several other 20th century buildings.  The new ZirMed Towers also dominate the view from the Glassworks.

It becomes painfully apparent just what was lost: an incredibly fine urban fabric easily comparable to the French Quarter in New Orleans.  In Louisville, though, such a scene was deemed a slum and slated for clearance.  In it’s heyday, the area around Sixth and Muhammad Ali Boulevard (then Walnut Street) was the center of African American life and featured a lively urban vitality.

This part of Downtown went on for decades after this photo was taken in 1906 and in that time grand architecture and theaters filled the area.  One structure from the 1920s, the 6-story Mammoth Life Building (once home to the Lyric Theater) still sits shrouded in 1960s garb on Muhammad Ali.

Much of the architecture in the 1906 view features simple vernacular design, a hallmark of its day.  The clean lines and human proportions of these structures would no doubt have created a fascinating streetscape.  After the click, you can take a closer look at all that once existed.  Just keep in mind that nearly everything you’re looking at is sitting in a landfill somewhere.

• Mammoth Life Buried Beneath River City Bank (Broken Sidewalk)

Click through for more modern and historic views.

West Market Street Abandoned Buildings

Last week we told you about several historic 19th century row-buildings that suffered a roof collapse and are now slated for demolition.  Then, we suggested clearing out the damaged areas and leaving the facades standing in hopes of future redevelopment.  These are, after all, important though austere urban buildings in a part of town increasingly looking like Detroit.  While some may say it’s idealistic to suggest real investment in the Russell neighborhood, we suggest looking at its proximity to downtown: less than a mile.  You can walk there.  And there are millions of dollars being invested in the area from small renovation projects to the African American Heritage Center, to the Ouerbacker House.  That’s the neighborhood we’re talking about: historic, walkable to downtown, and cheap.  Many of its great historic buildings could be renovated fairly easily, too, for much cheaper than 

West Market Street Abandoned Buildings

We’re getting a little off-subject.  The point is that this wouldn’t be the first facade-ectomy (it’s a real word) in the area.  Just down the street from the demolition candidates sit a couple of buildings that on first glance look like your typical boarded up variety.  Peaking through the dirty windows, though, reveals there isn’t actually a building back there.  Just grass and weeds.  (The tall building is missing its cornice, too).  These buildings are near the corner of West Market Street and 15th Street.  You can’t get much close to downtown without being downtown, yet you’d have no idea there were billions of dollars being invested in an area just 5 or 6 blocks away.  Many buildings are needless coming down in this area.  Keep what we have to we can redevelop more easily in the future.

• West Market Street (Google Maps / Street View)
• Demo Watch: West Market Street Buildings Partially Collapse, To Be Demolished (Broken Sidewalk)

A couple more photos of the West Market buildings after the click.

West Market Street buildings to be demolished

Two historic commercial buildings at the corner of West Market Street and 20th Street are slated for emergency demolition after a portion of the back of the buildings recently collapsed.  The three story commercial buildings date to the 19th century and have been boarded up for years.  The owner of the buildings is currently in court over the matter and we’re told the buildings have been condemned for five years.

The damage occurred when the roof caved in on the back portion of the buildings, causing a portion of the sidewall to become structurally unsound.  You can’t see the destruction from Market Street but around the corner on the alley, Congress Street, the damage becomes evident.  While the roof has fallen in, the front portions of the buildings appear to be in okay shape.  In a perfect world, the facades could be stabilized and left standing, but let’s face it, these buildings are goners.

Who knows, perhaps the damage from the collapse could be reversed.  This isn’t the first time the city has wanted to tear down a structure in the Russell neighborhood after a partial collapse.  The Ouerbacher House, just 4 block away, was slated for demolition after a portion of its east wall collapsed this year.  The building has been repaired after a preservation struggle and is slated to be renovated.  Two block the other direction, a gigantic 5-story brick warehouse wasn’t so lucky.  The city ordered it demolished and now it’s down to two floors.  There are plenty of other buildings around West Market, too, that could be beautifully restored but will likely be demolished this year.

This wouldn’t be the first facade left standing on West Market, either.  A couple blocks to the east, two boarded up buildings are mere facades, grass is growing on the inside if you peak through the cracks.  The news for this block gets worse, though.  The two-story building directly on the corner may also be demolished along with the two damaged structures.  Why?  Because it’s easier.  The buildings share a party wall, so rather than delicately remove the two damaged buildings, just haphazardly bulldoze the block.

West Market Street buildings collapse

The front facades were painted blue and red sometime in the last year.  Prior, they were a boarded up with decrepit white plywood that looked much worse.  Both buildings feature carved limestone columns on the first floor and the taller structure has intricately carved stone details above.  The stretch of commercial buildings here adds a distinct urban edge to West Market Street.  While everyone knows the area is just a few blocks too far west of downtown for redevelopment potential, Louisville better get its act together before its historic neighborhoods look like Detroit’s.  This type of commercial/mixed-use building is considered easily disposable here, and we will quickly realize the shortage of reusable urban buildings in the city if we don’t slow down the wrecking ball.  Russell will come back.  It’s only a matter of time.  We just hope there’s a Russell left to come back to.

• Demo Watch: How Long Can West Market Street Survive? (Broken Sidewalk)
• Demo Watch: Condemning West Main’s Future (Broken Sidewalk)
• Ouerbacher House Falling Down (Broken Sidewalk)

Click through for more photos of the buildings and collapse and photos from a few years ago.

West Market Likely Demolition

West Market Street in the Russell neighborhood has some of the best architecture in town.  It’s every bit as beautiful as its East Market counterpart, but has been neglected for decades and has begun losing buildings left and right.  There have been some notable exceptions, though.  The Ouerbacher House, once set for demolition by the city, has been thrown a life preserver and will be undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation and a small warehouse on Market has been colorfully renovated and is desperately seeking a tenant.  You might remember when the east wall of the Ouerbacher House partially collapsed and the media flurry that eventually landed Studio Kremer the task of preserving it.

Other buildings haven’t been so lucky.  A giant 3-5 story 19th century warehouse is currently being demolished (we’ll have more on that one very soon) and several others have been torn down in the past couple years (we’ll show you one that’s now gone on Friday).  We spotted another grand yet simple 19th century commercial live-work building on West Market this week that may have a date with the wrecking ball if action isn’t taken soon.

Here's the same property a year ago; House demolished

The old Portland Bait and Tackle, most recently A1 Batteries and Tires, is haphazardly boarded up and suffering from a gaping hole in the side of the building.  The battery and tire business apparently didn’t make it (there are still tires stored inside, though).  The building is valued at $70,000 by the PVA.  You can see a rowhouse next door has been torn down in the last year.  The house demolition is probably the cause of its neighbors wall problem.  Below, you can see the black outline where the house used to be.

There’s no intent to demolish sign posted, but the building’s outlook doesn’t seem good.  This building is only a block from the Ouerbacher House, too.  What could be a redevelopment target area immediately adjacent to downtown (this is a block between 16th & 17th street, its not far from downtown) is instead withering away into just one giant grassy field.  Hopefully this one won’t make the field that much bigger.

Damage to West Market Building

• Historic Preservation Activity (Broken Sidewalk)
• Colorful West Market Street Renovation (Broken Sidewalk)
• Preservationists: Pretty Please Save the Ouerbacher House (Broken Sidewalk)
• Ouerbacher House Falling Down (Broken Sidewalk)
• Demo Watch: West Main Street Warehouse Demolition (Broken Sidewalk)

A couple more photos after the click.

L-R: Phil Scherer, Jack Trawick, Karen Williams, Mark Isaacs, Patti Clare

Last night, local architects gathered to hear five business and government leaders discuss the future of Louisville’s “Changing Downtown Economy” at Felice Vineyards on East Market Street.  The group tackled issues surrounding downtown development, the economic crisis, and convention tourism.

Opening remarks began on a cheerful tone from the self-proclaimed “Downtown Cheerleader” Patti Clare, Interim Director of the Downtown Development Corporation, but progressed to a more somber and sometimes outright bleak outlook towards the end.  The discussions grew heated over some issues as panelists clashed on the realities surrounding development and economy today in Louisville.

Patti Clare noted how much progress has been made in the 20 years she has been involved with downtown development.  She remembers as massive projects came and went with little lasting impact and how in recent years confidence in downtown had been luke-warm at best.  She has been delighted over the last couple of years as “downtown has seen a spark” and become a “hot” market with momentum and confidence building in many recently announced projects.

The credit crisis changed all this and she warned that Louisville “cannot fall prey to tentativeness” and become fearful of downtown investment.  While there has been a drastic reduction in new housing permits across the board, she is heartened that there has been no decrease in renovation permits since 2007.

While hopeful large projects like Museum Plaza or Iron Quarter will one day make it through, she realizes that small projects (like the Marcus Lindsay Church condos, Whiskey Row Lofts, and Bycks Lofts) will carry downtown through to better times.  Mega-projects are inherently more complicated and take more time.

Karen Williams, the Exec. VP of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, also spoke about the progress she has seen in downtown as the convention business has grown with the expansion of the convention center, construction of new hotels like the Marriott, and renovations at the Galt House.  While we lag behind other cities in terms of hotel rooms, we are a leader in convention space.

She explained how the arena will strengthen Louisville’s appeal even more.  Now that the project has moved out of the planning room and has begun moving dirt, she says interest from groups is beginning to take off and events have been signed for as far out as 2025.  Williams adopts a “you can’t lose what you don’t have” strategy to the convention business noting the Louisville market has always been strong with professional associations, but lacked corporate events which are hurting most in thie economy.

Jack Trawick, Director of the Center for Neighborhoods, shifted the conversation to housing.  He expressed the need for people to live in the central urban area and noted that downtown housing cannot be a slogan or just an idea thrown out by the city.  It requires real risk and actual investment from the city and private interests.

Phil Scherer, President of Commercial Kentucky, picked up on the topic using his experience developing the Billy Goat Strut, Preston Pointe, and Fleur-de-Lis on Main to show change in Louisville.  The city has come a long way since he began downtown development in the 1980s.  Back then, he quipped, the city reassured him they were right behind him on development, but he didn’t realize then just how far behind.  His insights into the local economy left the crowd feeling sobered, but not completely depressed (quite a feat considering how much Felice wine was being consumed).

He believes in not exaggerating downtown progress.  He explained that there are less than 100 downtown condos for sale, but as recently as the Ryder Cup, the mayor was bragging the city had 2,000 new units downtown.  Scherer worries that over-stating figures like this puts the community in a comfort zone where they believe development is where it should be.  It can result in a development slowdown.  He also sees many of the mega-projects regaining a footing in years to come, noting that a new Humana tower, though probably delayed in the short term, could potentially begin in 2011 or 2012.

Mark Isaacs, President of Legacy Homes and developer of the Legacy Lofts, feared he couldn’t paint such a rosy picture.  He explained how he believes Louisville has the potential to join the ranks of great urban cities, but currently must come to terms with its place as a tertiary market, not the secondary market we all believe ourselves in, or the primary market we aspire to be.

He noted that for downtown housing, in Louisville, a developer is extremely lucky to sell one unit per month per project, a dismally low sales rate for any progress on the housing front.  The reality is sales are even lower than that.  He feels that currently, despite the economic downtown, Louisville cannot support the level of development that has been proposed or that the city desires.

He told how developments across downtown aren’t making money now, as the economy has stripped a standard 20% margin of return, and how Louisville is over-extended in the luxury housing market.  He further predicted that unless Louisville nurtures a creative class to the level competitor cities have, we will remain far behind our peers like Charlotte, Nashville, and Austin.

The Crowd Asked The Panel Questions

• American Institute of Architects, Central Kentucky Chapter (Official Site)
• Felice Vineyards (Official Site)

And the discussion is just beginning to heat up. More after the click.

NewBridge Crossings Rendering (by Tucker, Booker, Donhoff)

The $40 million mixed-use development at the corner of Broadway and Dixie Highway has not officially started construction, but demolition of the old Phillip Morris site is definitely complete.  Sitting like a giant grave marker on the former industrial manufacturing site is a 30 foot tall mound of crushed concrete: the only remnants of the massive buildings that encircled the site.  Proposed several years ago by The Mardrian Group, the project encompasses 23 acres and calls for 300,000 square feet of retail, commercial, residential, entertainment, banking, and restaurant space.  The development, once complete, is expected to have far reaching effects for Louisville’s Central West End.  The NewBridge Crossings project is only a few blocks from Brown-Forman Headquarters, the African American Heritage Center, and the Cedar Street Residences. Its also very close to the Ouerbacher House redevelopment and the rest of downtown in general.  Architectural design of NewBridge Crossings by Tucker, Booker, Donhoff Architects located on East Market Street in the East Village.

• NewBridge Crossings (Official Site… may not work)
• The Mardrian Group (Official Site)
• Tucker, Booker, Donhoff Architects (Official Site)

Click through for (many) more photos including pre-demolition site photos.

Ouerbacher House

Ouerbacher House

Metro Louisville took control of this property on the corner of 17th Street and Jefferson Street from a forclosed tax business in 2005 and has been seeking redevelopment of the site.  During the city’s stewardship, the property experienced decay and vandalism including two fires.  Earlier this year, a portion of the east wall collapsed and the city was prepared to issue an emergency demolition order if  no one could be found to renovate the property.  Scott Kremer of Studio Kremer Architecture was selected from a pool of interested parties to redevelop the house and purchased the propery from the city for $1.00.  Kremer plans to invest $2 million in the restoration of the property.  Final use for the property has not yet been determined, but it likely will serve as a music school operated by KMG America in honor of Stephen “Static” Garrett, a notable hip-hop and R&B musician.  Kremer received a $100,000 grant from Metro Government to stabilize the east wall and begin construction.  The wall has not been rebuilt and awaits the next steps of redevelopment.

Vogt House

The Tudor-style building nestled into the Medical District on East Broadway is actually two structures.  The original Victorian mansion dates to the 1890s and was built by industrialist Henry Vogt.  The two-story Tudor addition facing Broadway was built in the 1920s to house the Lemon English Silver Gallery.  Norton Hospital had proposed demolition of the structure to make way for a one-story radiation center on one of Louisville’s grandest streets.  After outcry from the neighborhood, the hospital compromised and has agreed to incorporate the Vogt Mansion into their new building.

Hub on Main Street Property

A three-story brick building on East Main Street near Floyd Street has been sold to Cobalt Ventures who has proposed a 5-story luxury condominium structure on the site.  The building had recently undergone renovation worth up to $1 million but now tenants have been removed and an “Intent to Demolish” warning has been posted and is gone after its 30 day notice period.  Original plans for the development show the building remaining with new structures to each side.  It is unclear what plans remain for the structure and demolition could arrive any day.

Colonial Gardens

Developers propose to tear down the wooden structure dating to1902 and build a strip mall in its place.  After hearing neighborhood concerns, the group proposed rebuilding a new structure resembling the historic beer garden originally called Senning’s Park.  In order to build a replica of the original Colonial Gardens on its original footprint, the developers would need special permission from the city as current anti-urban setback codes make the historic property illegal to build today.  A petition has been submitted to declare the structure a Local Landmark making demolition much less likely.  The landmark status is pending a hearing before the Louisville Metro Landmarks Commission.  Of notable interest, Elvis is said to have performed at the location in 1956.

Bauer’s / Azalea’s Restaurant

Charles Bauer, the owner of a historic structure dating to 1868 on Brownsboro Road in Mockingbird Valley, proposed demolition and replacement of the longtime restaurant with a modern Rite-Aid drug store.  A Local Landmark petition was submitted and the property was declared historic by the Louisville Metro Landmark Commission.  The neighborhood outcry was strong, including local notable Rick Pitino who lives nearby.  The structure has operated as a blacksmith shop, general store, wagon shop, and most recently as a restaurant.  Bauer has hinted before that he may challenge any historic designation in court.

Wayside Mission Properties

The Wayside Christian Mission proposed earlier this year an addition to their campus in the East Village on East Market Street that included demolition of three structures dating to the Civil War sparking Louisville’s first gentrification war.  Drawing concern from the neighborhood, the charity agreed to rebuild likenesses of the original facades using some original stones from the buildings.  The neighborhood submitted a Local Landmark petition to stop demolition but days before the wrecking ball was scheduled to arrive, a group of local businessmen agreed to purchase the entire East Market Street campus from Wayside for $5 million.  The group, headed by Gil Holland of Gallery NuLu, plans to turn the complex of 10 buildings into a creative hub for the area.

Water Company Block Properties

Four structures of varying historic quality sit on the block of the proposed City Center development proposed by the Cordish Company, developers of 4th Street Live.  The company has not decided formally which buildings may or may not be saved, but with the desperation for downtown development evident in the Abramson administration, anything Cordish says will likely go.  Time will tell with these properties.