Colonial Gardens Update

See 8/23/13 post. Colonial Gardens and the area around it have been revitalized. Took several years but turned out great!

Update 9/25/21

To say the least, much has taken place in the country, state, and downtown Louisville since my last post. Pushes for social and racial justice - including the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville - the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 election, and economic outcomes have all had great impacts. Before these events, downtown Louisville was on the upswing. However, a period of protests, vandalism, and looting in summer 2020 and fewer people working downtown and visiting Louisville as a result of the pandemic halted all of that energy. Some businesses closed. Some treaded water. Development plans were put in limbo. The streets were dead. It's now almost fall of 2021. It's starting to come back - but slowly. Will Louisville regain the momentum it had a few years ago? Will cities in similar situations also get moving again? Only time will tell. Personally, I am optimistic. People inside and outside of Louisville must be shown a. it is safe to return downtown, b. it's a great place, and c. there's a lot of potential that can only be harvested by getting back to business and investing.

Some recent happenings of note:

• Great new additions to downtown: 

Lynn Family Stadium, home of Louisville City FC professional soccer team.

https://www.loucity.com/lynnfamilystadium 

Waterfront Botanical Gardens, which is turning what used to be a dump into a premier urban botanical garden!

https://waterfrontgardens.org/ 

Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center. Huge athletic facility along 30th between Market and Muhammad Ali. Great development for the West End. We need to see more of these type projects in that area of the city.   

https://www.nortonslc.com/facility-information/facilities  

• UofL Healthcare took over and rebranded all Jewish Hospital facilities.  
• A Walmart was going to be built at Broadway and Dixie, but that plan fell through some time ago. Passport Health then committed to building a headquarters there and started on it but stopped due to financial trouble and being acquired by another company. At last check, there's just a half-constructed building there. Hopefully something will come to fruition. The good news is a fancy new Republic Bank YMCA has also been built - successfully - on the site.
• Gannett, owner of The Courier-Journal, closed its presses, sold them off, moved the paper to smaller quarters, and is selling the landmark C-J headquarters. The paper is now printed in Indianapolis. Very sad. A city that once had one of the best newspapers and media outfits in the country now no longer even prints its own news. Robert W. Bingham, Barry Bingham Sr., and Barry Bingham Jr. are probably rolling over in their graves!

Update 9/28/19

What's going on in downtown Louisville these days...

• The Ohio River Bridges Project is complete! It included two new bridges over the Ohio - one for I-65 downtown right next to the Kennedy Bridge (Abraham Lincoln Bridge) and one on the East End near Prospect that takes I-265 into Indiana (Lewis and Clark Bridge) - plus a redo of the all interstates, ramps, surface roads, etc. It was quite a mess for a while, but it was worth it; smooth driving and much better flow now.

http://kyinbridges.com/

Abraham Lincoln Bridge

Lewis and Clark Bridge

• Several new hotels. Hilton Garden Inn, 4th and Chestnut. Embassy Suites, 4th and Muhammad Ali (former Stewart's Dept. Store). Aloft, 1st and Main. Moxy Louisville/Hotel Distil, also 1st and Main. New 30-story Omni, which takes up the whole block between 2nd and 3rd and Liberty and Muhammad Ali. The Hyatt has been renovated. Several others. Big push for downtown hotel rooms lately.
• Mayor Fischer is making a push to add more trees, cool roofs, solar, etc., which is a great initiative. It's no secret that downtown is heavy on concrete, lacks green, and is a "heat island."
• Plans to renovate or reuse Louisville Gardens have stalled. I consider this a shame, but given it's location and other similar venues nearby, it may not have much of a future.
• Heine Bros. Coffee moved its headquarters to 1301 W. Main, which is a welcome boost to Portland and the West End.

Kentucky International Convention Center, Post-Renovation Photos

I recently attended a conference at the newly expanded and renovated Kentucky International Convention Center (2nd to 4th Sts. E to W, Market to Jefferson N to S). Check it out. Very impressive!

Muhammad Ali!

The whole world knows "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali. He was born and raised in Louisville and got his boxing start here. Ali loved his hometown, and the city loved him; one of its favorite sons. He passed away on 6/3/16 at the age of 74 after a decades long battle with Parkinson's. His funeral was one of the biggest spectacles the city has ever seen. Here are a few photos. Make sure to read the captions. Rest in peace Ali...

Muhammad Ali. Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, KY 1/17/42.

Ali's boyhood home at 3302 Grand Ave. It's been fully restored to the way it looked in his youth.

Where Ali got his start: The Louisville Service Club, Columbia Gym. He initially wanted to learn to fight to go after a kid who stole his bike!

The gym today, now part of Spalding University.

Walnut St. was renamed in honor of Ali in 1978.

The Ali Center in downtown Louisville. Opened 2005.

Ali's funeral procession downtown. An estimated 100,000 people showed up.

Ali's final resting place, Cave Hill Cemetery.

 

Louisville Gardens Just Can't Win

As I've mentioned before, Louisville Gardens, opened in 1905 and one of the city's oldest and most notable event venues, currently serves no purpose other than storage space for city government. And the structure is deteriorating. There have been several attempts to get it redeveloped, breathe new life into it, but no success. On Wed. 5/11, the Gardens took another hit: big storms rolled through and tore the roof off; a nearby vehicle was crushed by debris. The building's future isn't dead yet though. The city is redoing the roof. Hopefully, someone will come along and save the place soon!

http://www.wdrb.com/story/31952596/high-winds-cause-part-of-louisville-gardens-roof-to-blow-off-and-hit-a-car

Thanksgiving in Louisville 100 Years Ago

Interesting article...

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/11/19/thanksgiving-100-years-ago-strange-doings/75988296/

Found Another Photo of Hotel Henry Watterson

I'd say '20s/early '30s. For further reference, see 10/16/11 and 1/6/14 posts...

Big Plans for the Republic Building

As mentioned in my last post, a lot of properties downtown are getting new leases on life. Add one more to the list: the Republic Building (see "I'm Glad These Downtown Louisville Buildings Are Still Around!" post 10/18/11).

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/2015/08/03/republic-building-sold-florida-developer-boutique-hotel/31064253/

The Binghams

For almost the entire 20th century, the Bingham family was Louisville's version of the Kennedys. They were rich, good looking, well-bred, and educated at the finest prep schools and Harvard; had connections all over the country and internationally; served in the armed forces, delved into politics, pushed liberal causes; traveled extensively; and were deeply involved in the arts and philanthropy. The root of their power was owning an almost monopolistic media empire: The Courier-Journal and Louisville Times newspapers, WHAS radio and TV, and Standard Gravure, a printing company. However, also like the Kennedys, the Binghams had their fair share of intrigue, secrets, internal strife, and tragic, untimely deaths. In the mid-'80s, Barry Bingham Sr. sold off the family business. The move was stirred by controversy and produced even more - people in Louisville still talk about it today. Even though their name is somewhat diminished now, the Binghams' influence cannot be denied. A lot of books have been written about them. I think the most informative, unbiased account is Patriarch: The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty by Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones, 1991. If you can find a copy, grab it.

I recently took some photos of the family's graves at Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville. Section 13, Lots 101 and 102...

https://plus.google.com/photos/109696896928848305229/albums/6064329573126398721

The Binghams are also tied to some noteworthy Louisville architecture. First, there's the Courier-Journal Building on 6th and Broadway, opened in 1948 - wonderful late art deco.

Then there's the Binghams' estate, Melcombe, at 4309 Glenview Ave. on the east side of Louisville. Built between 1909 and 1911, it features 11,800 sq, ft. on four levels, a beautiful entry, tennis courts, about 10 acres of neatly manicured property, and views of the Ohio River. The family refers to it as the "Big House" because there's another wonderful but less massive home on the estate called the "Little House." Interestingly, at the time of this post, the "Big House" is for sale. It can be yours for a cool 4 million dollars :)

UPDATE 10/18/14
Melcolmbe ("The Big House") has been sold. Reports say Molly Bingham, daughter of Barry Bingham Jr., the last Bingham to run the empire, is the buyer. So the home is staying in the family for now - great news.