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Tag Archives: Bardstown Road Zipper

Below are listed the articles tagged Bardstown Road Zipper
  • 05 / Jan
    2010

The Ghost Of Bardstown Road Past

Posted by Branden Klayko.

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Collage courtesy Diane Deaton-Street

Collage courtesy Diane Deaton-Street



Thanks to Diane Deaton-Street, Broken Sidewalk contributing photographer, for putting together this collage of Bardstown Road in 1935 over Bardstown Road in 2009 (thanks as well to the UL archives for allowing us to show the old photo here).


As you can see, the architecture has largely remained the same while the businesses have changed.  You can see in the old photo not only a Piggly Wiggly grocery store (currently Leatherhead), but two drug stores including a Walgreens where Bombay grocery is today.  The ubiquitous above ground electric wires are still there and the vintage photo must have been taken around Independence Day from the flags on display.


The big change, of course, is transit.  Take a look at the trolley stopping to admit several well dressed riders near Bonnycastle Avenue and the Leatherhead store.  There’s a southbound trolley behind the delivery truck in the right lane as well.  Reminds me of the recent proposal to run a new trolley line down Bardstown Road.


The feel of the historic photo, to me, seems to be much more slow paced and residential than the Bardstown Road of today.  With the lush trees and the houses that still served as single family homes.  Bardstown takes on the feeling of a mixed-use Cherokee Road as the commercial district fades with the trolley stop until it will pick up again at the Douglass Loop.


Click through to see the modern photograph for comparison.

Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, , , , ,
  • 20 / Jan
    2009

It’s Tea Time In Louisville: Two Shops To Open Soon

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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VTs Bubble Cup on Bardstown Road

VT's Bubble Cup on Bardstown Road




We told you about the tea shop that was planned for Bardstown Road back in October.  Today, we spotted a sign to go with the rumor: VT’s Bubble Cup.  We had put in several calls for information over the last couple months, but none were returned.  With the appearance of the sign, however, it looks like the new shop should be opening soon.  We should have guessed the place might be selling bubble tea from the Asian newspapers covering the windows.  This marks the first entry of bubble tea into the Louisville market There are already several shops in the Metro Louisville area that offer bubble tea, but this could be the first exclusive bubble tea outlet.  Judging by the brightly colored, “bubbly” sign, VT’s should prove to have an interesting interior.  Besides the sign, two new black awnings have recently been installed.  Bubble tea contains edible tapioca beads and is generally fruit or milk based.  Here’s more info from Wikipedia:


“Bubble tea, also called “Boba” tea, is a Taiwanese tea beverage containing gelatinous tapioca pearls. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, spread to nearby East Asian countries, and migrated to Canada before spreading to Chinatown in New York, then to various spots throughout the West Coast of the United States. The literal translation from Chinese is pearl milk tea… The word “bubble” refers to “bubbling”, the process by which certain types of bubble tea are made, and not the actual tapioca balls. The balls are often called “pearls.” Drinks with large pearls are consumed along with the beverage through wide straws; while drinks with small pearls are consumed through normal straws.”


Michelle over at Consuming Louisville must have been wandering around Bardstown Road today, too.  She found the sign earlier today and breaks news of yet another tea shop opening soon on Frankfort Avenue.  Here’s more info on the Zen Tea House from Consuming Louisville:


“Zen Tea House is coming soon from the same folks who bring us the wonderful Zen Garden restaurants. They’re hoping to open the tea house next month and say it will feature traditional teas and light food. The location is just a couple doors down from Zen Garden on Frankfort Avenue.”

Posted in:  Nabes: Clifton, Nabes: Highlands, , , ,
  • 16 / Jan
    2009

Cafe Mimosa/Eggroll Machine Burns

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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Cafe Mimosa/Eggroll Machine Burns

Cafe Mimosa/Eggroll Machine Burns



So we’re not breaking any news, but we did stop by to photograph the scene today around lunch.  The fire broke out shortly after 4:00 this morning and is believed to have originated in the rear dumpster.  The neighborhood surrounding Cafe Mimosa lost power for several hours today, but electricity was restored before noon.  Bardstown Road was blocked in both directions as firefighters roamed through still smoldering building.  Luckily the fire was contained to the restaurant and did not spread to either adjacent building, including an animal clinic.  With temperatures below zero or in single digits, water from the fire fight froze on all surfaces around the scene creating a surreal hell-frozen-over atmosphere.


The roof collapsed into the building and the structure has been declared a total loss.  We haven’t heard from the business owners or if there are plans to rebuild or reopen in another location.  The entire scene was quiet and icy.  A TARC bus had been brought in to offer fire fighters refuge from the extreme cold.  The roads and sidewalks have been salted, but the area is still slick.  There were also an arson tipline posters on nearby telephone polls, but we don’t believe this has been ruled an arson yet.



Cafe Mimosa/Eggroll Machine Burns

Cafe Mimosa/Eggroll Machine Burns



Several more photos of the ice and wreckage after the click.

Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, , , , ,
  • 29 / Dec
    2008

Learning To Speak Bardstown Road’s Urban Language

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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Built Form Along Bardstown Road

Built Form Along Bardstown Road



Bardstown Road is hands down our readers’ favorite Louisville street.  It’s the birthplace of Keep Louisville Weird, seems to twist and turn endlessly with more and more stuff to see and do, and probably has the highest pedestrian counts in all of the River City.  Wikipedia gives us a little history lesson on the street:


“Bardstown Road was originally a turnpike (with a macadamized surface), and tolls were collected at toll gates along the way. The portion of the road nearest to Louisville was free, so as Louisville grew, the first gatehouse moved further out. The earliest was at Beargrass Creek; it then moved to what is now the intersection of Broadway and Baxter, and subsequently to what is today Patterson and Bardstown, then to Eastern Parkway and Bardstown by 1873. It was at Speed Avenue by 1901, when the turnpike was sold to the city. The second tollgate was permanently located near today’s Bashford Manor Lane and Bardstown.”


Early development on the street was residential.  Many of the original houses still line the strip, but have now mostly become commercial or mixed-use, often with urban projections meeting the sidewalk.  This slow and incremental growth pattern still dominates the urban form of Bardstown Road and is in some ways what helps to make the thoroughfare so unique.



Built Form Along Bardstown Road

Built Form Along Bardstown Road



You can see in the above diagram how early property subdivision created oddly shaped parcels.  As the road stretch out away from the city, houses were built on the narrow lots but did not necessarily face the street directly.  As new buildings and additions emerged, a jagged, saw-tooth “urban edge” began to form creating small pockets of public space now used for outdoor dining and the like.


This pattern was unplanned, but fulfills a direct need for space in the crowded city.  There are dozens of examples of this “urban notch” along the road.  We hope that future planned development can learn from the accidental successes of the past and incorporate small yet nuanced public space into their design.  While old houses built with layer upon layer of sequential growth are often obscured beyond recognition, the physical history of the street is preserved like a layer cake.



Click through for more photos of Bardstown Road’s ‘urban notch.’

Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, ,
  • 11 / Dec
    2008

Bardstown Road’s Head Shop Row Getting Longer

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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The Grateful Threads store long located on what some call Head Shop Row along Bardstown Road went under new management earlier this year and after a closing scare, has opened back up.  The new location is on Bardstown near Tyler Parkway (Map/StreetView).  Maybe we’re a little slow and didn’t notice this has been open a while?  But we saw it today and it has a giant “Grand Reopening” sign, so we’re bringing it to you.


The new Grateful Threads effectively stretches Head Shop Row well past Eastern Parkway, nearly doubling its length.  The other end, we guess is the Electric Ladyland far off to the south.  They have also jumped into the 21st century marketing with a MySpace profile and a web site that doesn’t work yet.  There’s still plenty of tie-dye, though.


In an area known for Keeping Louisville Weird, Grateful Threads specializes in Keeping Louisville Dead.  And with a clever play on words like that (the name or the slogan?), who can be against it?


[P.S.  There's a new mural in the works on the north side of the building. ]

Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, ,
  • 31 / Oct
    2008

Bardstown Road Prepares For A New Tea Shop

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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A new tea shop is being prepared for a recently renovated retail space on Bardstown Road.  Just a few months ago this space was still under construction with its facade improvement, and now construction crews are busy fitting up the interior.  The construction permit lists the interior renovation at around $30,000 for over 1,200 square feet.  Any ideas what this new business will be?


Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, ,
  • 29 / Oct
    2008

Bardstown Road Shows ‘Em How It’s Done: Landslide Victory

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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Well, the results are in, and it looks like there’s no room for debate: Bardstown Road has been voted Louisville’s greatest street, trouncing the competition with 63% of the vote.  We have to admit, it didn’t take a crystal ball to pick the winner of this contest, but the results are still interesting.  West Main Street, recently named one of the Top Ten Streets in America placed third with only 10% of the vote.  Fourth Street was shamed as it received not a single vote (We wonder how the results would change if you could vote against a street?).  Southern Parkway, perhaps the greatest of the Olmsted roads in Louisville, pulled in a surprising 8% or three votes to upset the gentrifying East Market Street.  Frankfort Avenue came in a not-so-close second with 15%.


So what does this tell us about great streets?  According to our results (all 40 of them), people enjoy streets most when there are a wide range of activities (including daily necessities) in a generally dense area that’s able to be walked.  Our winners, Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue, both are surrounded by people living there and able to walk and use the streets frequently.  The street doesn’t apparently have to be pretty, one of the traits that won West Main its national distinction, although it’s certainly a benefit.  Parts of Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue are downright ugly, but the primary strengths of each are their abilities to facilitate life and interaction.


We still love West Main Street and believe it deserves its new top ten title, but we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture: how people use the street.  One day when a critical mass of housing and other uses has been established downtown, West Main will likely rate much higher among local residents as a place they will go out of their way to simply be.  So what do you think of the poll results?  What makes a great street for you?  What streets do you think will become great in the future?  You have cast your ballot, now tell us how you decided in the comments.  Hopefully we will expand on this topic of great streets and how to encourage their development.




Posted in:  Nabes: Cherokee Triangle, Nabes: Clifton, Nabes: Crescent Hill, Nabes: Downtown, Nabes: East Village - NuLu, Nabes: Highlands, Nabes: Original Highlands, Nabes: Tyler Park,
  • 10 / Oct
    2008

That’s Really Annoying: Fake Bird Noises At Highlands Police Station

Posted by Broken Sidewalk.

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So this has been going on for some time and it is really one of the most irritating things the city has done in a while.  This summer, the Louisville Metro Police station at the corner of Bardstown Road and Rosewood Avenue installed a small sonic device that emits the sound of bird distress calls to scare away nuisance birds most likely perches atop the giant metro communications tower behind the station.  The photo above right is a model that operates near Ninth Street and Main Street beneath the Interstate 64 overpass that makes similar noises, deafeningly loud when you stand near the box.  Under the highway it’s not so annoying but along one of Louisville’s most busy pedestrian streets full of walkers, shoppers, and outdoor diners, hearing the same fake bird-call noise pollution every 10 to 15 minutes is enough to drive us crazy.  One common noise-unit called Bird-X-Peller describes the device as such:


“BirdXPeller takes very high fidelity recordings of birds’ distress cries (supplied by a major American university) and inscribes them on to a microchip using the latest audio technology. The resulting sound is so faithful to the original that they cannot be told apart! The infesting birds perceive danger when they hear these sounds, become agitated and disoriented, and flee the area… not to return. “


If the police or the city do not take the unit down soon, the pedestrians and shoppers around the station will likely “become agitates and disoriented, and flee the area… not to return.”

Posted in:  Nabes: Highlands, , ,
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