The 222 Building on First Street near Jefferson Street is undergoing a series of renovations that owners Dr. Mark Chariker and Dr. T. Gerald O’Daniel hope will breathe new life into the medical-office building. As construction on the existing building is going on, the team has broken ground on their new six-story parking garage on an adjacent parcel on Jefferson Street.
The familiar clock mounted on the door of Hunter’s Upstairs Clock Repair just off Frankfort Avenue in Clifton has gone missing. Alright, so the clock (and the sign above the door) has been absent for quite some time, but we were hoping it casually wandered off for an evening walk, not to stop and have a nap on those CSX tracks across the street. Quirky unexpected elements like a grandfather clock glued to a door are what really Keeps Louisville Weird, so we hope there is a good reason for the missing clock (and we hope it returns soon!). So, anyone know the story behind Tiny Ben?
The renovation of the old Legal Arts Building into the Republic Plaza is showing signs of progress. Jaytee Properties, brainchild of Republic Banks’ Steve Trager, has given us the first tangible evidence of the renovations going on inside the new Republic Plaza. New floor-to-ceiling glass, with the slightest of blue hints, is being installed across the building.
The new glass seems to be a marked improvement over the two-thirds vision glass alternative, but what about the natural ventilation? Is republic Plaza doomed to become an air-conditioned only ghetto? In today’s age of sustainable architecture, it seems a shame to replace operable windows with their 1980s counterparts. We’re hoping the rest of the renovation will stun us.
Butchertown is being asked to close another alley along historic Washington Street. A public meeting is scheduled for September 4th to determine the future of the narrow way. The blue painted-brick building along the alley was sold last year after a glass company moved out and now the alley-closure petition is posted. Could another industrial facility be awaiting arrival in the so-close-to-gentrifying neighborhood?
Swift Company has been buying up property to park semi-trucks in the neighborhood, and has razed entire blocks just to the east to do so. The two ends of Butchertown, that around St. Joseph’s Church and the other closer to downtown, are in danger of having a spike driven between them. While the alley currently runs through two generally industrial sites, one more of an open dump than any kind of business, the opportunity for real neighborhood change lies in keeping the original neighborhood fabric. Alleys have their purpose and our centrally located urban neighborhoods shouldn’t be over-run with 20th century planning when the area is so close to reaching critical mass. Any news on who is moving in?
The new mixed-income housing development on the corner of Shelby Street and Broadway just down the street from Tonini’s in Phoenix Hill is making noticeable progress. The Louisville Metro Housing Authority’s $3.5 million development will fill an empty lot that once housed the Broadway Meat Store, whose old building on the site was demolished years ago due to structural instability.
What a positive change filling in a single abandoned corner can make in a neighborhood. There is an interior courtyard with balconies on the inside of the ‘L’ shaped building. The corner on Broadway features a few thousand (okay, 3,500) square feet of new retail space with apartments above while the Shelby Street frontage resembles townhouses, each with a set of stairs. In all, there are 22 units (16 one-bedroom, 6 two-bedroom) meant to be mixed-income with a mixture of subsidised and market rate apartments. The building’s design was done by Kersey & Kersey Architects located just a few blocks away in Phoenix Hill. We’ve been watching this one for a while, but haven’t really posted any updates. So to make up for the wait, we’ve posted all the construction photos to date below. (P.S. The photos go back to early 2003!)
A pair of tropical frogs has landed on West Main Street near the Louisville Science Center. West Main is quickly becoming quite the menagerie with plaster horses, pink plastic penguins, a model triceratops, a vampire bat, and now rainforest treefrogs.
Workers pulled a giant engine from the rubble of the former LG&E Substation during demolition of the century old brick building. The massive contraption is believed to be part of an early space program here in Louisville that never quite took off.
In reality, this giant burner is a real jet engine probably dating to the 1950s or 1960s and was responsible for burning natural gas to generate peak-time electricity during summer months. Electrical production at the site ceased operation a matter of years ago. It has been hidden away until the wrecking ball came a knockin’.
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.
It’s also very close to the Ouerbacker 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.
