Since Friday is National Bike to Work Day, we’ve compiled a bunch of bike-related links to get you ready to cycle the streets. Up above is what cycling looks like in Copenhagen on any given day when 500,000 people ride their bikes every day. While Louisville’s Bike to Work Day won’t be nearly that large, at least we’re trying. Possibility City even has its own bike-booster video in which the bike gets a boost from a rocket, but they say it’s possible here.
A big celebration will be held Friday at noon at Fourth Street Live! where lots of bike-related items will be handed out and if you registered for Bike to Work Day, you might win a new bike. And on the chance you’re still going to crawl in on four wheels, pay a little bit more attention on the city streets, as many of the cyclists are new to the whole commuting thing.
Work continues at the Patrick O’Shea’s construction site on Main Street between First and Second Streets. We’ve been following this one for a while as the development progressed; read more here and here and here and here. Recently we had a chance to take a look around the inside of the construction zone and learned more about the layout of the future Irish-inspired restaurant and pub.
Patrick O’Shea’s is the work of local restaurant entrepreneur Tom O’Shea who currently operates O’Shea’s Irish Pub and Flanagan’s in the Highlands and Brendan’s in St. Matthews. The new venture will be larger and more upscale than its predecessors and will be complete well before the arena half a block away. Design work for the restaurant was done by Architectural Artisans of Frankfort Avenue.
Upon arriving inside the restaurant’s Main Street lobby, you will be greeted by a massive custom made bar. This entry is planned to become a sort of English tea room in the future. Original stamped tin ceilings are overhead and the light from an atrium and skylight will draw you farther into the restaurant. Patrick O’Shea’s will cover three floors of the old whisky warehouse, including the lower Washington Street level. New elevators have been installed the skylight was put in place shortly after our tour.
Light well inside the new O’Shea’s. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
The interior of the construction site was dark, only lit by strings of lights, but the masonry walls and wooden beams in the ceiling make a definite statement on the interior space. A fire long ago has left some of the beams slightly charred, but the beams and joists are expected to be cleaned up later on. The age of the wood gives it a rich, dark color, and its heritage as a whisky warehouse ensures the place is over-engineered. Joists are spaced very closely together and create a soft rhythm of repetition through the entire restaurant.
A grand staircase will ascend through the atrium to the second floor where a skylight will allow natural light to pour into the center of the row building. On the north side of the building, an open balcony will one day overlook revelrous arena-goers crowding Washington Street.
Up above, a new roof deck will provide generous outdoor space for even more merrymaking and features views that feel uniquely urban. The two top floors will remained unfinished, shelled space and could one day become apartments or offices.
Deep inside the building, in the sub-basement below Washington Street, the ceilings are low. They were once even lower before a brick and dirt floor was lowered and a new concrete floor installed. This space won’t be part of the finished restaurant, only home to refrigeration units. It’s hard to feel more underground than when you’re two floors under Main Street with massive brick corbels at the floor and ceiling.
Construction keeps moving. Since our visit, new stairs have begun installation, the skylight has been opened up, and the framing for the green roof deck has started. Equipment for the kitchen has arrived and is awaiting installation, too. This one is moving quickly and is being done in grand fashion that will be sure to transform the area around the arena when its mahogany double doors swing open onto Main Street for the first time.
The Henry Clay building wins an award. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
The Henry Clay building on Third Street at Chestnut Street has placed second nationally in the National Development Council Academy 2009 Awards for Community Development. The mixed-use development by City Properties Group was chosen out of a group of 15 entrants voted on by industry leaders. A revitalization project from San Antonio placed first in the category.
Emergency Demolition Ordered For First Street Building
A three-story brick and limestone building on First Street between Main and Market Streets has been issued an emergency demolition order. We had a chance to take a tour of the building last October and learn of the development once planned for the property. The interior of the former whisky warehouse is full of giant wooden columns and beams, but a slightly leaning masonry wall needed structural attention. With the help of an engineer, bracing was applied inside the building, but a recent shift of a few inches in the wall could be the demise for the historic structure.
The building was a whisky warehouse from the 1860s, and its austere detailing reflects its former use. We love these simple buildings for the urban character they bring to the street. A building doesn’t have to be flashy or ornately carved to be important, and this one certainly could contribute to the neighborhood as one of the few remaining examples of its era. It’s a shame so many buildings like this one meet similar fates with the wrecking ball.
Bracing on West Main Street for Museum Plaza. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
There could be a glimmer of hope for this building, though. Owner Dan Borsch doesn’t want to see it go without trying to preserve it. He is looking for creative solutions for redeveloping the 9,000 square foot structure. Only a portion of the south wall is leaning, and most of the building is sound. Dan wonders, if the entire building can’t be feasibly saved, could a portion remain and be incorporated into a new building? Your ideas and interest could really help out here.
The problem lies in finding a solution quickly enough to save the building while still making redevelopment economically viable. Although the structure is slightly wider than the West Main Street row buildings whose guts were torn down for Museum Plaza, could a similar bracing structure hold the building up until a development plan could take shape? There’s a massive, 18 foot deep stone basement in the building that could make a great future space and 9,000 square feet above it. Could building a new structure inside the building’s shell allow the building to rise above its current three-floor height with setbacks? Imagine a glass penthouse on the fourth or even fifth floors.
Dan is looking for help and ideas in saving the building before it’s too late, and the clock is ticking. What are your thoughts on how to proceed with the building?
AAA previously held offices near the corner of Broadway and Jackson in the Medical District. Many of the jobs at that location have been moved to their Hurstbourne Parkway regional headquarters. Painters and electrical crews were on site today and the new AAA offices are expected to open May 18.
AAA headed for the Cobalt Marketplace. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
Something green lurking in the sewers. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
Spotted this sewer Downtown today that was filled with a very bright green liquid. A better (but slightly more disgusting) view of the green liquid in the sewer is below. These colors haven’t been altered. It appears to be some sort of chemical, but it looks like there’s a lot of it. Given that Downtown sewers drain to the Ohio River, this can’t be good for the environment. [UPDATE: Officials with MSD contacted us to say the color is a harmless chemical used to track leaks in the sewer system.]
Rendering of the new Riverfront Amphitheater (courtesy City of New Albany)
Rendering of the new Riverfront Amphitheater. (Courtesy City of New Albany)
Construction on New Albany’s new Riverfront Amphitheater has begun to show some progress. The old yellow tensile-fabric amphitheater was damaged in the wind storm last year. While the construction site doesn’t look like much today, concrete foundations are already in place and a large red crane looms over the riverfront.
