Category: Uncategorized

Model of a #FreeRupp

Last night, a public meeting was held for the Arena, Arts & Entertainment District (AAED). A lot of great ideas from the master planners at Space Group; lead architect Gary Bates led the presentation. As he pointed out, the concept of master planning – particularly in difficult economic times – must operate as a “slow cooker” — with a master vision in mind and taking incremental steps along the way for a period of decades to accomplish the goal. A quote attributed to American architect Daniel Burnham was offered before the introduction of Mayor Gray:

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die.

As a result, much of what what discussed last night was conceptual and not concrete. This process is not (at least yet) about building design but about planning a 46-acre district that would expand the downtown core, making her a more attractive,  livable place.

The attention of many focuses on one thing: Rupp Arena. On the continuum of this master plan, Rupp is certainly the catalyst and where efforts will begin. As Bates said, Rupp Arena is a fantastic facility because of its intensity which he attributes not just to our team but to the simple fact that we have “24,000 people on the smallest footprint in the world.”

But the AAED is about taking that same intensity and providing opportunities for pre- and post-game excitement. And although the city and Space Group are looking at how to revitalize a 46-acre district, neither are ignoring the balance of downtown (and the city for that matter) so that our community operates as a unit.

I was impressed with Bates’ mirror analysis: that downtown’s core extends from Thoroughbred Park to Rupp Arena, but that this space can nearly be mirrored on the land which can be developed from Rupp Arena westward through the Cox Street lots and into the Distillery District. He noted that the fabric of downtown is well-defined and concentrated better than many cities he has visited: north/south streets, e.g., South Limestone and South Broadway, have become axises for small business while east/west paths, e.g., Third, Short, and Maxwell, are highly residential. Still, walkability in our concentrated city has suffered: from 1907 to 2011 our building density has suffered a 50% blow in favor of larger “big boxes” and surface parking.

In all, the presentation showed great promise and good ideas though none are shovel-ready. For more on the details, I’d encourage you to read articles by Jill Seelmeyer (KyForward) and Bev Fortune (LHL). You may also want to check out the AAED Taskforce webpage at www.ruppdistrict.com.

Ice Skating Rink at Triangle Park – Lexington, Ky.

In the cold winter of 1913, the ponds on Clifton Heights hardened enough to become a destination for ice skating enthusiasts in Lexington. Clifton Heights was platted around the turn-of-the-century between the city of Lexington and the A&M College of Kentucky (now UK). This old Lexington subdivision, was razed in the 1990s for the construction of UK’s W.T. Young Library.

Ice skating at Clifton Heights Pond – Lexington, Ky. (Source: KDL)

Another great location for ice skating, according to newspaper reports from the 1880s, was Lexington’s water reservoir. The water company was so accommodating that the “public [was] invited to use the engine room to get warm.” In today’s world, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

But for many years, the only option for public ice skating has been the ice center on Eureka Springs Drive. But no more.

With the remodeled Triangle Park comes a new winter attraction: an ice rink (formally and with recognition of corporate sponsorship, the Unified Trust Company Ice Rink). At its grand opening last Friday, held in conjunction with the city’s Christmas tree lighting, the rink was packed with skaters enjoying skating under an open sky.

The rink itself comes from, of all places, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The surface measures 85 x 60 feet and has a capacity of 200 persons. Accompanying it are a tent for skate rentals, a tent for concessions (though this will eventually be replaced by a permanent, but mobile, structure), and a 200-ton chiller to keep the ice sufficiently cold in Lexington’s fluctuating climate.

Achtung!

I look forward to taking the family skating at this beautiful location. In Mastercardesque terms:

• 90 minutes of skating in beautiful Triangle Park – $10.
• Skate rental – included in the price.
• Doing something a Louisvillian can’t do because the Waterfront Park ice rink didn’t open again this year – priceless

Or in the words of Steve Grossman, President of the Triangle Foundation: “The park is set up to be a nice, fun little winter wonderland!”

More pictures are available on flickr. And before you say, “hey… where are all the skaters?” note that all the pictures were taken the afternoon before the rink opened.

Sources: BizLex; LHL; local.lexpublib.org; Streetsweeper

Christmas Tree at Triangle Park – Lexington, Ky.

A few minutes past 6 p.m. on Friday evening, the Christmas season officially began in Lexington, Kentucky. With the help of Mayor Jim Gray, Santa Claus himself turned a large key to flip on the lights on the holiday decorations throughout downtown which include several Christmas trees – the most significant being the 30 foot blue spruce located at Main and Broadway (temporarily, Santa Clause Way and Santa Clause Lane) in Triangle Park.

With its multicolored lights illuminating what must have been the largest crowd ever to witness Lexington’s tree lighting, the blue spruce provides a dramatic backdrop for the new ice skating rink that now winters in Triangle Park’s central lawn.

The tree lighting ceremony in Triangle Park is a Lexington tradition, though its mechanics have changed over the years. I’ve attended in years with frigid temperatures, which nicely accommodated an ice sculpture contest. The ceremonial lighting of the tree has always involved the sitting mayor and St. Nick, but it has been performed by the flipping of a switch, the pressing of a button, and most recently the turning of a key. As for timing, it is traditionally been held the day after Thanksgiving but this too has fluctuated based on UK basketball and Backstreet Boys concert dates. Even the location has changed: in 2007, the tree lighting was relocated to the courthouse plaza on Limestone.

Another part of the tradition is that it is the ceremonial kickoff of both the Lexington Firefighters Toys-for-Tots and the Salvation Army’s local Red Bucket Brigade campaign. These worthy organizations help those less fortunate, a number which is dramatically growing in these tough economic times. In introducing the Toys-for-Tots campaign, the Lexington firefighter observed that about 10% of those in need are first-timers — that number has jumped to 50% of requests for aide. If you can help, please do. “And God bless us, everyone.”

LFUCG Council Chambers – Lexington, Ky.

I’ve always been a stickler for the rules for displaying flags. While visiting Minneapolis, Minnesota for Midsommar Dag 1995, I advised the director of the American Swedish Insitute that the flags on the front of their Turnblad Mansion – a beautiful thirty-three room French chateauesque mansion built in 1908 – were incorrectly displayed. Federal law requires that the American flag appear, from the perspective of the audience, to the left of other flags. 4 U.S.C. 1 § 7. You see, the Swedish flag was on the left. The director was quite happy that someone, albeit a twelve year old, pointed out the error. Particularly as Norway’s  King Harald and Queen Sonja were soon expected to visit.

Which turns me to the subject of my post: Lexington’s City Hall.

While attending last week’s board of adjustment hearing (the proposed subdivision in the Western Suburb was denied), I took a few moments to take in our beautiful city hall. Though I didn’t take a sufficient number of photographs, I did admire the former Lafayette Hotel which had closed as a hotel in 1963 and served as private offices until 1982 when the city took over the building as its new city hall. But what caught my eye in chambers were the flags.

Yes, the good ol’ Star Spangled Banner was appropriately displayed with an eagle finial atop its flagstaff. Note, however, that federal law is silent with regard to finials. The Kentucky flag, at audience right, found a spear-like finial atop its flagstaff.

STOP. Am I the only one who knows chapter 2 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes? K.R.S. 2.030(3) mandates: “The emblem at the head of a flagstaff used to display the flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall be the Kentucky cardinal in an alert but restful pose, cast in bronze, brass, or other suitable material.”

“Shall be.” That also means not optional, so does a phone call need to be made to central purchasing?

Helicopter Hovering O’er Lexington, Ky.

The Lexington Financial Center. 250 West Main St. The Fifth Third Bank Building. The Big Blue Building.

Regardless of the name you use to describe Lexington’s tallest building, you may have noticed a little activity over the weekend at the top of this 410 foot tower. A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted an inquiry about what had happened to the top of our most recognized skyscraper. Quick to my aid, the Lexington Streetsweeper advised me that Fifth Third Bank had changed its logo and that the building’s signage was being replaced.

The bank’s logo was actually changed in 2007 to include a green horizon – intended to evoke a sentiment of growth and of possibilities – behind the classic 5/3 shield, though it is only now being brought to our skyline. The new logo would replace the old logos on the north and south faces of the landmark building that had been in place since Fifth Third moved into the skyscraper in 1996. The Financial Center first opened on June 16, 1987, with the flower-like logo of the Bank of Lexington.

On Friday, a helicopter landed at Centrepasture and I quickly learned of the daring feats that would be accomplished on Saturday. And though our Bedouin friend had both his camel and back turned away from the helicopter and all of “Centrecopter,” I was intrigued.

So I could not help but return to the scene Saturday morning. There, I witnessed men rappelling from the peak of that blue tower while the helicopter hovered overhead – mountings for the new signage hanging from it by only a few cables. High winds left one of the rappellers suspended by only his harness and it was decided to postpone the project until calmer winds prevailed.   You can see how fast the wind was by watching this video – look at the clouds!

As for when the project will continue, we don’t know. Each of the two signs to be installed weighs 10,000 pounds. For safety reasons, all nearby streets are closed during the installation. So, too, are all businesses occupying the top three floors in any building under the flight path.

According to the LHL, the new signs are 26 feet wide, 24 feet tall and 60% more energy efficient than the old signage. But until the weather permits, we will just have to enjoy Lexington’s newest tic-tac-toe board:

Lexington’s Largest Tic-Tac-Toe Board – Lexington, Ky.

Look for an update when the sign is actually complete. In the interim, check out the gallery (including videos) of the transformation.

615/617 West Short Street – Lexington, Ky. Photo cropped from Microsoft Bing

In the 1960s, downtown Lexington suffered several mighty blows when looked at from the architectural, historic or preservationist perspectives. Many architecturally significant buildings were demolished to make way for surface parking lots, the charm of the old courthouse‘s interior was masked over, and the beautiful city hall on what is now Martin Luther King Blvd experienced an addition which destroyed its character leaving no saving grace when the structure was ultimately destroyed in the early 2000s.

Another development blunder was the construction of the Bluegrass Upholstery building at 615 West Short Street in the heart of the Historic Western Suburb. This one story, warehouse style structure wraps around the entire property which consists of a consolidated plat including both 615 and 617 West Short Street. While the occupants of the building may have been good neighbors and their work exquisite, the building serves as a ‘non-conforming use’ under current zoning laws because it operates in an otherwise residential area.

Adjacent to (and literally connected) to the Bluegrass Upholstery building is the house at 617 West Short Street. Like 615, the first floor of 617 serves a commercial use as part of the upholstery company. Built in the 1800s, 617 is part of the architectural fabric of the street and the neighborhood, where citizens of taken great strides over the past thirty years to bring the area back to glory. Businesses now thrive on Jefferson Street, a block away.

But the owners of 615/617 want to have the property subdivided between the two units so that 617 can be sold off to a private owner who, in the best of circumstances, will effort to return the property to its own glory days. But a residence butted up to the one-story commercial building would reduce its value as a residence and would in turn diminish the value of other neighboring properties.

So why would a preservationist and history-lover not want to see the properties subdivided and a historic residence returned to beauty?

Because I believe that the subdivision would perpetuate the non-conforming use at 615 West Short Street. I’m not alone: the Blue Grass Trust, the Western Suburb’s Neighborhood Association and other like-minded organizations including the South Hill and Northside neighborhood associations are joining forces to object to the proposed subdivision. You can join them at the Board of Adjustment’s hearing tomorrow, Friday November 18 at 1 p.m. in the Council Chambers in Lexington.

Section 4.2 of Lexington’s zoning ordinance discourages these ‘non-conforming uses’ by suggesting that the Planning Commission “not encourage their survival.” By isolating the two properties, if makes it easier for future occupiers of 615 West Short to continue the non-conforming use.  Which is precisely why section 4.5(a) of the ordinance prohibits subdivision or consolidation “in a manner that increase its non-conformity.”

Further, as the city of Lexington considers moving forward with making downtown streets – including West Short Street – two-way, it is important to consider how this subdivision would further impact traffic by making it more difficult for delivery trucks to service any commercial entity operating at 615. Currently, there is a surface parking lot sufficient to allow for off-street loading and unloading, but reducing the size of this lot through subdivision would eliminate this functionality. Too, it would put more pressure on the already premium on-street parking on this block of West Short Street where many homeowners do not have off-street parking options and rely each day on finding a place to park their vehicles.

The long-term ramifications of this subdivision proposal are great and detrimental to the welfare of the community. The subdivision itself, though recommended by the staff of the planning commission, appears to violate the provisions of Lexington’s zoning ordinance. For these reasons, the subdivision on West Short Street should not be allowed to proceed.

This post was republished by both KyForward and ProgressLex.