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Kentucky Heritage Council’s Annual Preservation Awards Go To…

Each year, the Kentucky Heritage Council awards various preservation awards to individuals and groups who have advocated, promoted, supported or plain out “did” preservation work in Kentucky. The biggest award, the Ida Lee Willis, is the highest honor bestowed.

Ida Lee Willis was the first lady of Kentucky (her husband, Gov. Simeon Willis, served from 1943-47) and was “directly responsible for saving the Vest-Lindsey House in Frankfort. She was named the first state historic preservation officer (SHPO) in 1966 after the enactment of the National Preservation Act.

The winner of this year’s Ida Lee Willis Memorial Historic Preservation Award is K. Norman Berry of Louisville. A fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Berry “served as architects for more than 20 significant building preservation projects along this street. His firm was also awarded commissions to serve as architect for three of Kentucky’s most significant historic structures – the Kentucky State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort, and Federal Hill in Bardstown.”

The awards will be given out today, May 27, 2015, at a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion. Visit heritage.ky.gov of more details.

Service to Preservation Awards will go to:

· The Fulton Conway Building, 850 W. Main St., Louisville, and the owner, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, for careful rehabilitation of this former tobacco warehouse through developing design concepts to preserve the historic integrity of this circa 1890 building

· The V.A. Kaltenbrun Building, 329-335 St. Clair St., Frankfort, in recognition of efforts by owners John and Martha Gray to restore this 19th century commercial structure following a devastating fire

· Shotgun Row, 315-327 Orchard St., Covington, and the Center for Great Neighborhoods, for rehabilitating a row of historic frame shotgun houses in the Lee-Holman Historic District into affordable live/work spaces for artists

Service to Preservation Awards will go to:

· Friends of Eastern Cemetery, a volunteer, nonprofit organization, for their work cleaning up and carefully restoring one of Louisville’s oldest public cemeteries and reacquainting the public with the historic legacy of those interred there

· The Living Archaeology Weekend Steering Committee, which for more than 25 years has planned and presented this annual two-day event focusing on past technologies of Kentucky’s Native and pioneer peoples, reaching more than 35,000 fifth graders and visitors

· James and Maxine Cass, for their leadership in helping acquire and preserve Camp Wildcat Civil War Battlefield in Laurel County and establishing the nonprofit Camp Wildcat Preservation Foundation

Grassroots Preservation Awards will go to:

· Meridzo Center Ministries, for Lamp House Coffee on Main Street in Lynch, an iconic 1921 building associated with coal mining that has been rehabilitated into a community coffee shop as part of its local ministry

· Snivley Chapel Restoration Project, for volunteer efforts to save and preserve this circa 1853 frame church in Pike County, one of the oldest recorded original chapel buildings in eastern Kentucky.

Congratulations to all and thank you for your commitment to preserving Kentucky’s rich heritage!

Demolition Watch Updates Offer Good News During National Preservation Month

How about some good Friday news?

There are a couple of updates from the week worth mentioning, especially given how popular this site’s #DemolitionWatch posts have become. So from the Commonwealth’s two biggest cities, I offer some potentially positive outcomes to places on Demolition Watch.

Here are the original #DemolitionWatch posts related to the Jefferson and Fayette County structures. Updates are after the jump.

Louisville Water Company Building

Louisville Water Company Building, ca. 1913. University of Louisville Archives.

First, from Louisville. Last month, I derided “Possibility City” for lack of imagination or possibility with regard to three demolitions on a block slated to become the home of an Omni Hotel. The post warned that “still standing on the block are the old Water Company building and the old Odd Fellows Hall.” Louisville has recently been spotlighted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the city is turned into a 3-year ‘living laboratory’ so it didn’t make sense for this development to end horribly.

And it appears that it won’t as there’s good news from Louisville Mayor Jim Fischer per the Louisville Courier Journal. The city of Louisville will commit $1 million toward moving all or part of the historic Water Company building. Per the Mayor’s website, “we are committed to saving all or parts of the historic old Water Company Building.” The $1 million has already been set aside by the city to help prepare the site for the Omni Hotel project, and Fisher “would rather use that money to help save some of the building.”

The mayor also outlined three potential outcomes:

Move the entire old Water Company Building;
Move the portico, the façade, and 25 feet of the side walls; or
Move only the portico and place it on public land

We’ll see which outcome is the route taken. I’ll be pulling for #1!

Peoples Bank in Lexington

Peoples Bank rendering.

A lot of movement and a significant amount of progress. You may recall the deadline of May 21 was yesterday. The deadline was tied to a vote by the Lexington Center Corporation’s board meeting.

During that meeting, the LCC board unanimously voted to allow the iconic Peoples Bank to be relocated somewhere in the Rupp District. A few locations have been mentioned with the most prominent being at Maxwell and South Broadway.

With that approval, the developer has “generously provided the project with another extension” according to the Facebook group, People for the Peoples. As previously noted, the estimated cost to move the Peoples Bank is $850,000 with funding already being committed by the city and a matching grant from the Warwick Foundation. The $300,000 matching grant requires $250,000 of public support with over half of that having already been raised! Details on how you can help are available here.

Laurel Catto, chair of the Warwick Foundation’s board, was reported in the Lexington Herald-Leader as saying that “this is far, far more than just saving a building. This is a living, breathing monument to our community’s values for respect and inclusion. … (The bank) was designed as a public space.”

Regifting a Relic from the Spanish-American War

Cannon on the front lawn at UK. UK Libraries.

An oft-forgotten conflict in American history, the Spanish-American War was one of only five wars in the nation’s history to be formally declared by Congress. Lasting only three months in 1898, the island of Cuba served as the conflict’s main theatre.

The final battle of the war was staged in the hills to the immediate east of Santiago and it acquired the name The Battle of San Juan Hill. A month after the battle, a dispatch was sent from the Secretary of War to General Shafter in Cuba requesting that “a lot of old brass cannon, old style, at Santiago, captured by you.”

These many cannons were ultimately distributed by the War Department throughout the country. One in particular has since 1903 been on the grounds of the University of Kentucky, though it didn’t arrive directly but was instead “regifted” through multiple hands before arriving in front of the University’s Main Building.

Author’s collection.

The stock of the UK cannon bears the markings of Barcelona, Spain and a date from October 1795. Over a century later, the war was fought and the old style cannons were captured by the U.S. War Department. According to UK, the cannon was presented to the Commonwealth of Kentucky which in turn gave the cannon over to Lexington Mayor Henry T. Duncan. It is unclear how the Commonwealth fits into the picture, as the majority of other accounts reflect that the cannon was on loan from the War Department to the City of Lexington “as a souvenir.”

The engraving on the limestone block that supports the cannon, nearly illegible now from the years, reads:

Spanish trophy Federalista, received from the United States War Department by City of Lexington, June 18th, 1900. Transferred to State College of Kentucky. May 19th, 1903, through Mayor Henry T. Duncan.

Immediately after its receipt by Lexington, the cannon was displayed at an Elks Fair. After the fair, the Federalista (as it would be nicknamed because of an engraving on the barrel of the cannon) was promptly deposited under an American flag in a warehouse on Upper Street and both forgotten and nearly lost for a years time. According to contemporary newspaper accounts, the people of Lexington (and Mayor Duncan) had no conviction about where to place the war relic. A proposal to place the cannon at Cheapside near the old courthouse drew at least one letter to the editor of the Lexington Leader:

I think it will be a great mistake to place the Spanish cannon on Cheapside, as has been suggested in the paper. All of the city of Lexington is not concentrated on Cheapside, and the few statues or ornaments should not all be huddled together and crowded into one little space. One detracts from the other, and such statues or mementos as Lexington may be preserved.

By May of 1903, Mayor Duncan determined that the State College (later known as UK) would be a fitting site for the cannon. Installed on May 19, 1903, the Lexington Leader had this to say about the installation ceremony:

One of the prettiest ceremonies ever performed at State College was the unveiling of the cannon this afternoon, presented by the city of Lexington. The large crowd present showed the high esteem in which State College is held by the people of Lexington, and the cadet battalion in their gray blouses and white duck trousers made a natty appearance on parade.

The Federalista after a prank. UK Libraries.

On campus, the Federalista became a backdrop for “picture-taking and campus hazing activities.” Campus lore suggests that it was fired after wins by the Wildcats and photographic evidence shows it being toppled. Reports of it being pivoted toward the Main Building and filled with manure before being fired exist as to suggestions that Main Building windows were at many times broken from the blasts of the cannon. As a result of either the truth or threat of these things, or a combination thereof, the cannon was cemented in several decades ago.

The August 28, 1942 issue of the Kentucky Kernel indicates that the student-run newspaper spearheaded a campaign to have the relic from the Spanish-American war scrapped as part of the WWII war effort. The effort was not unique. Across the country, national fervor during World War II prompted the smelting of many historic relics with the proceeds being used for war bonds and the metal finding its way into the war effort as well. This, too, was the case with a cannon in Bloomington, Illinois which shares the history and profile of the cannon at the University of Kentucky. Both barrels were made at Barcelona and appear identical. The Bloomington cannon barrel weighed “5,695 pounds of which 80 percent was copper, 10 percent tin, 8 percent lead and the remaining amount silver.” One can presume that the UK cannon has the same statistics.

Fortunately, the cannon remains on campus. Its green hue – that of tarnished brass – has endured as well. In 1934, the Kentucky Kernel suggested that the University might be benefited by making the cannon “sensational. … Steps should be taken by the proper authorities on the campus to have the green coat removed and the shining natural color of the brass take its stead.”

“That piece of rare war machinery faces a muchly traveled highway and were it gleaming in the sunlight it would catch the eye of more than one tourist who would stop a few minutes to inspect it and then visit the remainder of the campus. The advertising value of this would well repay for the shining of the weapon of former days.”

ACTION ALERT: Peoples Bank May Be Saved With Your Help

The Peoples Bank on South Broadway in Lexington was on Demolition Watch a couple of weeks ago today. During the day, some equipment was rolled onto the site to begin demolition but negotiations with the property owner and preservationists ensued and the property owner gave a promise to let the building stand for a 3-week period while a plan could be developed.

We have one week left. Click here to help.

Here’s what’s happened in the past two weeks. The Warwick Foundation, a non-profit committed to promoting the legacy of Clay Lancaster, has offered up a commitment of up to $300,000 to move and relocate the incredible mid-century Peoples Bank.

In the words of the Warwick Foundation:

The Warwick Foundation wants to transform the iconic mid-century modern Peoples Bank building in downtown Lexington into a Peoples Portal to the Rupp District. The Peoples will be razed in its current location, but the owner will donate it to Warwick if we can move it to a new site. We are asking the Lexington Center – a government body – to allow us to move the Peoples to West High Street, across from Rupp Arena, on a parcel Rupp District designers have suggested.

The cost is $850,000. Warwick has committed $300,000 to move the building and we need to match those funds with $250,000 in donations from the community. The Peoples Portal will be by the People for the People! Mayor Gray has included $150,000 in the Urban County Government budget, now being reviewed by Council. Please ask your council member to support Mayor Gray’s funding! The balance would come from the Lexington Center, to improve the receiver site.

Warwick will operate the Peoples Portal as an enduring monument to the values of respect and inclusion, partnering with nonprofits and universities throughout the area to offer programs on those themes.

Please give what you can – in any amount! If enough money isn’t raised or the receiver site falls through all donations will be returned. Your donation is tax-deductible and will mean the difference between whether this building finds an important new function serving the community or is demolished.

The Warwick Foundation has answered some FAQ about the structure, the process, and the plan here.

So here is the People’s Portal: CLICK HERE TO GIVE.

Since the portal began accepting donations, over $33,000 has been raised but there is much more needed in order to match the Warwick Foundation’s donation. You can follow the status of the giving on the Facebook page, People for the Peoples.

ACTION ALERT: Critical Meeting Tonight (May 12) Will Decide Fate of Harrison County’s Ridgeway

Although a vote to demolish the Handy House (aka Ridgeway) was taken last November by the Harrison County Fiscal Court, the demolition of the historic home (located in a city-county park) requires approval of both public bodies. A joint public meeting tonight of the Fiscal Court and the City of Cynthiana will provide citizens with the opportunity to show your support for preserving our history! The meeting is May 12, 2015 at 6:30 pm in the old Harrison County Court House on Main Street!

If you can’t make the meeting, please stand up and be counted through this online petition:

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-handy-house-aka-ridgeway-sign-the-petition-to-encourage-local-officials-to-support-preservation-restoration

The home was listed earlier this year by the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the 11 Endangered Properties in Their 11th Hour. Last November, Cheri Daniels penned a guest post here that told the history of this important structure. Here are some highlights of that history:

The history of the house is quite remarkable. As mentioned above, the original owner was U.S. Congressman and War of 1812 Veteran, Colonel William Brown. He was an attorney and close friend of Henry Clay. Both served in the 16th Congress, which established the Missouri Compromise. Colonel Brown’s wife, Harriet Warfield, was the sister of Lexington’s Dr. Elisha Warfield. He is well known as the owner of the famed racehorse Lexington and as the physician who delivered Mary Todd Lincoln.

Ridgeway Collage by Cheri Daniels

Thus began the Brown family’s connection to the Todd/Lincoln families. As Kentuckians migrated west, many families moved into the Illinois territory. The Brown family began this move as did some of the Todds. At this time, Colonel Brown was also leaning toward an anti-slavery stance, despite owning 30 slaves at Ridgeway.

As he relocated his family, he freed his slaves and brought a few of them along to work as employed free men. The sons and nephew of the Colonel got caught up in the Black Hawk War and fought alongside another new Kentucky emigrant, Abraham Lincoln. The comrades in arms formed long lasting friendships, and Lincoln accompanied the Brown family men back to their new property to help clear it after the war, alongside Ridgeway’s former slaves.

As the years went by, evidence of Lincoln’s friendship with this family can be found in many ways.

When Lincoln was running for office for the first time in 1858, he wrote to the Colonel’s son (Capt. James N. Brown), assuring him of his stance on slavery:

I believe the declara[tion] that ‘all men are created equal’ is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest.

After Lincoln’s assassination, James was personally selected by Mary Todd Lincoln to serve as one of Abraham’s pall bearers on the final leg of the body’s journey in Springfield.

You can read the rest of Cheri’s post, which contains more background on the structure, the threats to its survival and its plan for the future by clicking here.

And remember… TONIGHT!!

If you go:
Joint Meeting of City/County Governments
Old Courthouse in Cynthiana
Main Street
6:30 p.m., May 12, 2015

If you can’t go:
please stand up and be counted through this online petition:

A Discussion on Lost Lexington

Please join Lost Lexington author Peter Brackney on Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library. He’ll be discussing the book and some of the back stories from Lexington’s places that have been lost to history.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The Hart-Bradford House has been described as “one of Lexington’s oldest, most historic landmarks.” The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.

Registration is recommended, but not required. You can also indicate your attendance on Facebook which I’d really appreciate!

For more about Lost Lexington, click here.

And here’s another link to the Facebook event: —

Finding and Discovering Eddie Street

I saw that a demolition permit had been issued for another shotgun house. This one is on Eddie Street and it was filed on Monday, May 4.

Eddie Street? In all my walks of downtown Lexington, I couldn’t recall being down Eddie Street. So I found it on a map and headed that way. Parallel to Main Street, Eddie runs between North Limestone and Maple Avenue to the north of Seventh Street.

Eddie Street has a lot of shotguns. It was interesting how the Eddie Street shotguns have evolved over time. Some have stone façades and others have been covered in brick. Many are covered with vinyl siding, while a couple still reveal their old cedar siding.

There are also some cottages, a couple of Habitat homes, and one structure that appeared to be the street’s oldest.

165 Eddie Street, Lexington, Ky. Author’s collection.

According to the Fayette PVA, 165 Eddie Street was built in 1900 though I suspect its history is older. At a full two stories, the structure stood out on the street (a fact aided by its vibrant blue color). One of its residents was “a United Methodist minister and Lexington civic leader” who died in the home in August 1986 according to the Herald-Leader. According to the Notable Kentucky African American Database, Rev. Horace Henry Greene was the first African American president of the Louisville Ministerial Association (1961). Five years later, he became the second African American to fill a school board seat on Lexington’s school board. He also was the first black city commissioner candidate in Lexington.

But a glance at property records indicate that the house remained in family hands for 20 years after Rev. Greene’s passing, but in a sad twist the home was lost to foreclosure in 2006. The property has exchanged hands several times since and is now owned by a landlord in Arkansas.

These once heavily owner-occupied enclaves have increasingly become rental properties owned by distant landlords.

News articles mentioning Eddie Street date back to 1902 with the vast majority of mentions being in the newspapers’ “colored” sections. One article, dating from a January 1913 edition of the Lexington Leader had the headline “Water Drives Out Residents on Eddie Street.” It read, “the recent heavy rains have caused a great gathering of the waters in the low section of the city around Eddie street, and many of the families were forced to leave their homes at a late hour Saturday night to escape being drowned in their beds.”

Flooding didn’t seem to occupy the newspapers’ references to Eddie Street over the following decades, though drug deals and arson did seem to play a major role in the neighborhood’s development.

The decline in the neighborhood gives rise to vacant and condemned properties, and thus the recent demolition permit.

The building slated for demolition, 128 Eddie Street, recently suffered from a fire. The demolition permit is made by LuigART Makers Spaces. LuigART is a “program that transforms vacant or condemned properties in the North Limestone neighborhood into affordable live/work units that are respective to the neighborhood’s historical context” according to the NoLi CDC.

NoLi CDC and LuigART are hoping to duplicate their success from shotgun renovations on York Street on Eddie Street. With an ambitious goal of rebuilding six houses on Eddie Street this summer, the work begins at 128 Eddie.

It’s here that it is worth noting (again) that a demolition permit isn’t always a bad thing. This permit indicates an investment in the community by transforming an otherwise vacant or condemned structure.

Explore Gratz Park at Tonight’s #BGTdeTours

“A full book could be written on the structures that stand (or once stood) in and around Gratz Park. Most notably, the primary structure of what is now Transylvania University once stood in the center of the park. Designed by architect Matthew Kennedy, the three-story academic building was constructed in 1816 but burnt to the ground in 1829. After the fire, Transylvania retreated to the north side of Third Street.”

That’s a snippet from Chapter 1 of Lost Lexington – a chapter that discussed the Hart-Bradford House that once stood on the southwest corner of Second and Mill streets until its demolition in favor of a parking lot in 1955.

In the wake of that demolition, a committed group of committed citizens came together to organize what would become The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation. And the city of Lexington established Gratz Park as the city’s first historic district three years later in 1958.

The effort to preserve the structures around Gratz Park, an effort begun by the 1955 demolition of the Hart-Bradford House, jumpstarted the historic preservation movement in central Kentucky.

For this month’s BGT deTour, we’ll explore the history of Gratz Park with guide Carolyn Hackworth, the leader of www.lexwwalkingtour.com. If you make it, please help the BGT promote the event before, during and after the deTour by using #BGTdeTours on social media! Thanks!

In the words of Kentucky architectural historian Clay Lancaster, “the park has charm, atmosphere, a sense of tranquility and of history, and it provides an oasis of planting tucked into the cityscape.”

And it has a lot of history.

After Gratz Park, the group will retire for a house tour of the newly-restored Thomas Hunt Morgan House where light refreshments will serve as tonight’s AfterHour. Thomas Hunt Morgan grew up in this ca. 1870 McMurtry-designed Italiantate which has had multiple additions, notably an auditorium (ca. 1912) and dining hall (ca. 1970) have left many more square feet than originally included in the McMurtry design. Utilized for many years by the Women’s Club of Central Kentucky, the house was deeded to the BGT in 2014 reuniting two parcels of John Wesley Hunt’s property once again. For more on the Thomas Hunt Morgan House and Nobelaureate Thomas Hunt Morgan, click here.

And although an RSVP isn’t necessary, you can join the event on Facebook:

The award-winning BGT deTours program is designed to provide tours of places you might not normally get to see, helping people interact with and learn about sites that make the Bluegrass special. For young professionals (and the young at heart!), deTours are always the first Wednesday* of the month at 5:30 pm*, and are always free and open to the public (*exception being holidays, weather and out-of-county locations).

Centrepointe: A Perspective from 2008 to the Present

A version of Centrepointe. EOP Architects.

Centrepointe.

I was a law clerk when I paused for a few moments to observe part of the press conference that was streaming online from the website of a local news station. Then-mayor Jim Newberry stood alongside developers, together announcing a massive development in the heart of Lexington. The proposed structure would soar high above the city and become the tallest building in the city.

I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of losing a block of our downtown core, but I could see promise in what was being proposed. I hoped (perhaps too optimistically) that our national economic struggle would not be as prolonged as it turned out to be.

But I also wasn’t as committed to the cause of preservation then as I am today. Although I grew up in a historic house in downtown Lexington and, as I’ve often said, “history is in the genes,” I didn’t then consider the full weight of losing a block of early to mid-19th century commercial structures in the heart of the city.

Asa Chinn’s 1920 Lexington. A view of South Upper. UK Libraries.

None of the buildings was individually grand. And the block was already the victim in several spots of former demolitions.

My book, Lost Lexington, bears this out. While many of the photos in the book are from my own collection, I don’t have a photologue of the pre-demolition Centrepointe block. Unfortunately, the preservation of the Centrepointe block wasn’t on my radar and/or I was blinded by the project’s promise.

As is often the case, hindsight is 20/20.

Fast forward to the following spring when I would graduate from law school. I like to tell the story of how the Kaintuckeean began: as a drive with no destination through the beautiful countryside of Kentucky. It rekindled a love of history … and of historic preservation. Studying for the bar exam was broken up with moments of relaxation: escapist drives and explorations around the Bluegrass.

And after passing the bar and being sworn in as a new lawyer, I looked forward to the future. But through all of this, Centrepointe had evolved from a block-sized hole in the ground to a summery swamp. Every walk to court during my legal career has taken me past a variant of the post-demolition Centrepointe block.

During the 2010 mayoral election of 2010, Centrepointe was a major campaign issue. The mayor that had stood by the Centrepointe developers at its onset was defeated by the vice-mayor who had opposed demolition without a strong plan to move forward and who supported design guidelines to ensure a vibrant downtown.

The promise of the World Equestrian Games, in 2010, gave us CentrePasture. And the city took advantage of the grassy knoll. With the property owners’ blessing, the city enjoyed the temporary park during festivals and for ‘Polo in the Park’.

“Progress” on the block consisted of various design proposals being provided to the public and discussions of insufficient funding to proceed. As these events unfolded and the promises were repeated, I became more wary of the story. What was once optimism was replaced by pessimism.

I had lost faith in a project that showed promise. And I felt duped that I hadn’t really stood up for the buildings that were lost in the first place … especially since there was no real plan to move forward.

In October 2014, I celebrated 5 years as a lawyer. A month later, I celebrated the launch of my book, Lost Lexington. On the cover of the book is the pit of Centrepointe in the foreground with both the historic 1898 courthouse and the Fayette National Bank Building occupying the cover’s background. If you haven’t picked up a copy, and you’ve read this far through this post … you probably ought to. Click here for details on where to find a copy!

I wrote the book to share the backstories of Lexington’s past that might be lost just like the physical places where they once occurred. The story is not just historical – it is about doing something to preserve the physical culture of a place.

With the buildings lost, I acknowledge that nothing can return the block to her historic past. Acknowledging as much in Lost Lexington, I continued to hang on to a shred of optimism about the Centrepointe project. In Chapter 2, I wrote

Earthmoving equipment dug deep, only yards away from where the Town Branch still flows, in order to create space for the proposal’s underground parking. Above the parking garage will be a collection of buildings of varying heights and modern architectural styles. Although none will possess the monolithic scale first proposed, nothing can return the block to her historic past.

So while the earthmoving equipment dug deep into Lexington’s core and timed explosions were set off sending reverberations throughout the heart of the city, the “buildings of varying heights and modern architectural styles” remain unbuilt. Hell, the underground parking garage isn’t even a reality!

A sense that the project might finally take another step forward occurred in December 2014 when two massive cranes were installed on the block ready to begin the heavy lifting of construction.

Through Christmas the cranes sat. Then came a difficult and challenging winter during which the cranes continued to sit. April showers may bring May flowers, but they haven’t brought activity to the block.

Witnessing these idle cranes sparked my poetic side as they emerged from the depths of the earth only as idle sculpture and not as the powerful tools they are intended. I wrote

High o’er our city
tow’ring cranes idle they stand
What will happen here?

What will happen here? We now appear to be at the precipice of what could be nasty and prolonged litigation between the developers and the city. If it comes to this, undoubtedly bricks will be thrown. The people of Lexington and downtown development will be held hostage. There will be no winners from this course of action; we will all be losers.

But let’s be honest with ourselves. Lexington already lost. We lost this battle in 2008 when we allowed demolition to occur without a clear path forward. We lost in 2010 when the world came to town for the World Equestrian Games and our city’s center was little more than a blank canvas. Now the 2015 Breeders Cup will bring much attention and many first-time visitors to our city, but if they look too closely at its center they will find only a deep, deep pit.

There’s a lot of finger pointing that can be done. It’s been going on for as long as this project hasn’t. But finger pointing will accomplish even less than the litigation might.

Hopefully, the community will learn from Centrepointe. It seems like, to some extent, we have. Lexington has introduced some additional layers of protection in parts of the community while the preservation community has been rejuvenated.

This is important. And though there will continue to be physical losses in the community for a myriad of reasons, it is important that we not lose sight that “each building has a story that contributes to our human history.”

“We must understand and preserve our history in order to better understand ourselves.” From the book’s introduction, that’s basically the thesis of Lost Lexington. We failed ourselves with the demolition of the Centrepointe block, and we can only hope that the parties put Lexington first and that a highest and best use for the block, complete with an excellent design, becomes the block’s future.

ALERT: Peoples Bank Scheduled for Morning Demolition??

A new Facebook group, People for the Peoples, has issued the following alert: “We have just been alerted that demolition of the Peoples Bank in Lexington, Kentucky is slated for the morning of Thursday, April 30.”

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We have just been alerted that demolition of the Peoples Bank in Lexington, Kentucky is slated for the morning of…
Posted by People for the Peoples on Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Please follow People for the Peoples!

Support their campaign for this important building!

It was only Tuesday night when the Blue Grass Trust hosted Sarah Tate and a panel discussion on midcentury modern architecture. What a travesty it would be to lose one of Lexington’s finest examples of the period at this time. And for what cause?

It is my understanding that demolition permit was issues some time ago for this property, though preservation considerations had seemed to carry the day. Just a couple weeks ago, moving the structure was discussed and promoted by several parties as it could become the home for a local non-profit. See Herald-Leader.

This was only a couple weeks ago. What has changed? Why the rush to demolish?

Give the Peoples a chance.