Video: Mr. Theo & TARCettes Bike Rack Rap in National Spotlight

Renovation Watch: Kentucky Street House Rehabbed

Dec 8, 2008

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A once grand mansion on the corner of First Street and Kentucky Street is undergoing a thorough renovation to transform the former slum house into a modern apartment building. Work has been going on for a while now on the house as crews last month stripped paint from and repaired the brick building’s exterior. New landscaping has recently been installed and new windows will go in next week.

The project is being developed by the Lee Hensley Company, a group working to restore several Old Louisville properties. Here’s some info from the company’s web site:

Not only is this company focused entirely on Old Louisville, but we live there. We see the potential of its future. We have a vision. We see the current issues preventing the area to change, and are looking for ways to turn them around. We are spending our time improving the real estate in Old Louisville and plan to return it to the grandeur of the past. We see Old Louisville as the Gem of the City.

When the renovation is complete, the building will have five apartments with average rents of $400. There will be four studio apartments and a one-bedroom unit. The building was in really bad shape before the renovation began and it’s good to see some positive work going on inside.

The Lee Hensley Company (Official Site)

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Snapshot: Presentation Building Tilted

Dec 8, 2008

Presentation Academy Arts-Athletics Complex Construction

What a difference a month can make. The new $5 million Arts & Athletics Complex under construction on the corner of Fourth Street and Breckinridge Street has progressed from a foundation to four walls awaiting a roof. The building is being built by Presentation Academy and replaces the old art-deco 900 Building previously on the site. The new structure has been designed to blend with the original Presentation building and fit nicely into the historic neighborhood.

Louisville Water Company Operating Prospect Subway

Dec 8, 2008

The Louisville Water Company continues work on its Payne Treatment Plant near Prospect including a $50 million tunnel far below the city’s surface. R. David Schooling brought the story to our attention after local media toured the site in mid-October.

Morning News Roundup

By Broken Sidewalk -

Dec 8, 2008

Motorist kills pedestrian in hit-and-run; held in jail (N & T)
Improving local street safety (C-J)
Big Four Bridge awarded tourism funds (N & T)
More from Business First and the C-J

Southern Indiana Park-&-TARC lot to open in June, more planned (N & T)
Downtown housing takes a beating in recession (C-J)
Executive Inn closes, awaits summer demolition (Fox 41)
Pondering the future of suburbs (Urbanophile)
Local Spanish-weekly newspaper closing (C-J)

Antebellum Church May Become Organic Feed Store

Dec 5, 2008

1844 Methodist Church May Become Organic Feed Store

A historic Methodist Church dating to 1844 on Shelby Street may be the future home to an organic feed and supply store. Gill Holland, Tim Peters, and a group of investors purchased the church as part of the Wayside Christian Mission campus deal on East Main Street. While the group won’t take over the entire Wayside property for some time, the church, currently used for storage, will become available in the spring.

Earlier this year, Tim Peters had considered moving his construction business offices from the Highlands at Bardstown Road and Longest Avenue to the building. Now, the building may be converted to the region’s first organic feed store that developers hope will compliment the future permanent farmer’s market slated for the same block.

Gill Holland described the church as beautiful on the inside, and once cleaned up, could be brought back to its original grandeur. New windows will replace the half boarded up apertures and a new roof will be installed as part of the renovations. He noted that Muhammad Ali, back when he was known as Cassius Clay, used to box inside the church.

Whether the future of the church brings offices or the organic feed store, restoring the church will definitely be a boon to the neighborhood most recently dubbed the East Market District in the Heart of NuLu.

Free Public Forum on 8664 To Feature National Speakers

Dec 5, 2008

8664_sticker_01 — (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

The grassroots effort to realign Interstate 64 across an east-end bridge and create a multi-modal boulevard along the Ohio River to replace a stretch of elevated highway and reconfigure Spaghetti Junction in a manner that doesn’t destroy Butchertown is holding their second Free Public Forum next Wednesday at the Muhammad Ali Center. Of course, we’re talking about the 8664.org campaign which has met with overwhelming support from the community and overwhelming denial from authority figures. Now’s your chance to catch up with the latest in local and national news on the urban-highway-removal front.

Park Watch: Steel Columns Arrive at Big Four Bridge

Dec 5, 2008