Louisville City Hall gets new Fire Escape

In recent months, the city of Louisville has added a new fire escape to the north side of city hall. The four column steel structure spans three floors and replaces the old fire escape from the 1940's. According to WAVE3 the finished structure will be painted to match the limestone color of the original building. The structure itself has a price tag of over $400,000.

Louisville's new Eddie Merlot's paints Starks Building

Construction on the future Eddie Merlot's steak house in the Starks Building on Fourth and Muhammad Ali is coming along nicely. Interior construction is in full swing.  After tearing out all the old windows facing the sidewalk most of the new windows have been installed. They are nice floor to ceiling windows.  Over the last week I've noticed that painters were working hard on the outside of the Starks Building. They are painting the ornamental facade just above the new windows. They used to be black. The color of choice this time around is reddish-brown. I guess that color goes better with steak.

Whiskey Row adds penthouse

With the KFC Yum Center about to open, the Whiskey Row development next door is taking shape as well. Crews have already replaced all of the windows facing the arena. They are now working on adding a penthouse levela to the top of the old buildings. This step reminds me a lot of what Whiskey Row developer Bill Weyland has done to one of his other developments. At the Henry Clay he also added a level to the top of the building. At Whiskey Row it looks like two of the buildings receive a vertical upgrade. I wonder if the apparments will be two story appartments, like the once at the Henry Clay?

They are also currently working on the facade facing Main street.

Louisville Magazine Building Remodel

Workers have been remodeling the Louisville Magazine building on Muhammad Ali and 2nd street for the last few months now. The most obvious change is the replacement of all the windows as well as the glass panels holding the windows. I was afraid it would detract from the functionalist style of the building, but after all is said and done, it looks quite nice. Remodeling has not finished yet. They are currently working on the roofs of the building. I am not sure, but I think the atrium area is probably going to be tackled next, since the doors still look like the old windows.

Republic Plaza Main Signage Up

Republic Plaza's main signage block is now in place. The structure towering over seventh street seems to be complete, even though I hope they still going to paint it. If you look closely you can see the structure displaying the logo has lots of bumps and dings. I am not sure whether that is supposed to look like that.

Currently they are still working on the entry way as well as the landscaping out front.

Shively Center's Total Makeover

If you have driven by the Shively Center on Dixie Hwy and the Shawnee Exp lately you can see that it has gotten a total makeover. After Dillard's department store closed in 2007 the center was in desperate need for an anchor tenant. The city really wanted to locate a Kohl's store down here, but that never came to fruition. Eventually they found one in a Norton's Primary care facility. It will also include a obstetric and gynecologic practice. The city estimates daily visits to be about 21,000. It is scheduled to open sometime in the winter of 08/09.

The buildings next to the former Dillard's part are also getting a major overhaul. As you can see in the picture it will look very different from what it used to look. It currently houses Weightwatcher's and Kort Physical Therapy. All the other stores that used to be here have moved out. That is also true for the Mexican restaurant at the end of the old strip mall.

Green Building Neighbor to become Green?

With the Green buildings inaugural show on its way (see previous entry) its time to look at what might be in the future for that part of eastern downtown. Plans still call for a farmers market next to building, which would be a pleasant addition to downtown grocery offerings. It might replace the food stands that were lost at the Haymarket property.

Then there's always 720 E. Market St which is currently leasing. The building is also owned by the same people (Nulu partnership) that just bought the Wayside property. The 720 building would make a great green building as well.

Green Building Louisville holds inaugural show

The Green Building on 732 E. Market in Louisville opened its doors for an art show for the first time last Saturday. The inaugural exhibition features work of Louisville artist Cynthia Reynolds. The Green building itself is one of the latest renovations completed on Market Street. Started in spring 2007, the mixed-use building will be the first commercial building in Louisville that will have earned a LEED platinum certification for its sustainability and environmental friendliness. Early next year a street side cafe called 732 Social will welcome patrons.

Louisville's Joe's Crab Shack White Out

Louisville's Joe's Crab Shack is getting a new coat of paint. Painters have been covering the riverside restaurant in white paint for the past couple of weeks. I don't really think it was necessary, since it looked kind of shackish beforehand, but they probably had a good reason. I hope they finish what they started, because this one spot under their logo on the side has been left unpainted for a couple of days now.

Crowne Plaza Louisville Renovation Update

The conversion of the Executive West to a Crowne Plaza is in full swing. They are currently working on the entrance. As you can see in the picture, they are adding a new roof structure above the entrance. From the looks of it, this will be just a cosmetic addition to the hotel. They are also currently working on the porte-cocheres on all sides of the hotel. Once finished, the hotel with its 588 rooms will be one of the largest Crowne Plazas around. After spending over 26 million dollars, Al J. Schneider Company hopes to finish the renovation in December.

Scaffolding at O'Sheas' Main Street Building

Recently, scaffolding was put up at one of the to-be-renovated buildings over on the 100 block of West Main Street. The building bound to be renovated is the one in between the earlier announced City Properties "Whiskey Row" development and the proposed "Iron Quarter" project. Once completed, the former warehouse will be the downtown location of some sort of restaurant/bar development by the people behind O’Shea’s Traditional Irish Pub and Flanagan’s Ale House in the Highlands. This would mark the first actual renovation on the site. The Whiskey Row project is said to start in 2009. A time table for the Iron Quarter project has not yet been announced.

De Hart Paint Building - Still Nothing

Over at the De Hart Paint building in the 900 block of east Main Street, there is still no movement whatsoever. I wonder if City Properties has abandoned the idea of renovating that structure altogether. It was announced at least two years ago that they wanted to turn that building into 7 condos as well as 11 rental units. All we can see so far is a faded poster of the renderings. I am afraid that City might have shifted focus towards more lucrative projects like Whiskey Row near the arena and their under-construction Zirmed Gateway Tower. Back in 2006, it sure did sound like renovation efforts were imminent.

Sons of the American Revolution HQ on West Market Street

As announced in February, the Sons of the American Revolution will turn the Fulton Conway Building on West Main Street (across the street from the Louisville Slugger Museum) into their national headquarters. When I last checked, they put some of their interior renderings into the windows for you to see what it'll look like once the building is complete. They have even more renderings on their website. The lower one is courtesy of that site (http://www.sar.org/news/building.html). In the photo I took, you can see their future library.

Fancy Windows at Republic Plaza

On my latest round through downtown I've noticed some fancy new windows being put into the Republic Plaza building as part of their renovation. It's some snazzy looking shiny blue glass. It looks like the middle three floors have floor to ceiling windows. All that's left now is to spruce up the exterior walls and it'll look like a brand new building.

Republic Plaza Work Started

I am pleased to see that work has finally begun to turn an eyesore into something less ugly. The former Legal Arts Building on Seventh and Market is finally getting its 5-Million Dollar renovation, and work has started to gut the building. I still would have rather seen it torn down completely, but what we can be happy about is what they are doing to it. Once completed, it will house some of Republic Bank's increasing workforce. In my opinion, they should have just built a new 12 story building to house all of their employees under one roof. According to the Courier-Journal, the renovations are supposed to be finished by the end of the year.