Heat Wave And The Fourth Of July

I doubt that many of us remember how it was during the days before air conditioning when heat waves would come rolling through the countryside, but I can just imagine what the public warnings could have sounded like. Since there was no such thing as radio or TV in the 1800's, and the newspapers of the day were reporting the weather not predicting it, many folks simply relied on common sense and practical measures

For instance, residential housing was built in such a way as to take advantage of the natural breezes and air currents with strategic placement of windows and doors. It even extended so far as to include landscaping and trees. It was the city densities and commercial buildings which began to plague the occupants during the hot spells and made city life nearly unbearable.

Today, the public announcements call for those with ailments and allergies to stay inside and for others to keep a check on the elderly or disabled. Places which were recommended for relief (Woodland Park or country outings) are now to be avoided since they are equated more with physical activity than with passive recreation. Those who wished to find a swimming hole could locate a shaded body of water, whereas now there are just expanses of sun-baked concrete and rules.

Lexington, like most urban areas, is not the small, ecologically designed community that it once was. We, and they, have sprawled out and built fanciful imitations of homes which remind us of what was, but cannot function without mechanical, environmental aids. This we call progress.

While ruminating on these processes of the past, I am also brought to consider the upcoming 4^th of July activities and the events surrounding a fireworks display. The events of these days seem so different from those of my youth. Time may have moved much slower back them but, then again, it may be a matter of perspective.

I have read where this year's celebration will be capped off by a 17 minute aerial display (providing the fireworks are allowed at all due to weather) and it hardly seems worth it. I can remember when the 4^th just seemed to never get here. Also, there was not a downtown based, community event.

Lexington's involvement was limited to the individual parks preparing decorated floats (flatbed trailers generally provided by a local transfer company) for a parade through downtown to the football stadium at UK. Most floats were designed and decorated by the older park regulars and directed by a team of parks staffers. The inter-park competition caused some floats to become quite elaborate. Probably the best part was the total lack of overtly political interjection.

Drivers would haul their park's float to Woodland Park and line up on Kentucky Ave. Then, at around 7 or 7:30, the parade would begin. From the park to Main St. and right down through the middle of town. A turn on Broadway and up the hill to Maxwell and back to Rose St.   Out Rose to the Avenue of Champions and ending between McLean Stadium and Memorial Coliseum.

Many of the participating parks had had their cook-outs and neighborhood celebrations or parades earlier in the day, but the kids still had their sparklers and flags for the evening. There was enough light left in the evening to get to the seating and maybe get a drink. Climbing to the top of the stadium and looking over onto the street below was a thrill to many a kid as was watching the sun dip below the treetops in anticipation of the “real” show. (Sunset would have come about 9 p.m. since this was before the Uniform Time Act of 1966 and there was no Daylight Savings Time.)

The fireworks were set off from the field where the marching band now conducts practice and the western end zone seats held the constructs of the so called “ground displays”. At dark the stadium lights would go out and a “test” shot would go up, I believe, to determine the wind conditions. Then the show would start.

There was an intermission during which music was played and the parade float winners were announced. More drinks and hot dogs and then back to the seats for some more show. An interspersing of aerial and animated ground displays later and the grand finale of bombardments over, it was time to go home. The parks staff rounded up their charges, got back on the floats and went to their respective neighborhoods. Even though I lived close to the stadium, I got home around 11 p.m. and sent to bed, one tired puppy.

Daylight Savings Time, a much larger parks network and insurance/litigation issues have surely put an end to such happenings but simple memories of simpler times make it rough to not long for those days again. I am sure that many of you have your own memories and will be making more this coming week, so I hope that the weather is kind to you and that we all play it safe this year.

An Entertainment District Saturation Point?

For many years, we have followed the mantra of "build interesting retail and the folks will flock to it" in trying to rejuvenate our downtown.  It is not just here in Lexington but all across the country.  We did it when we built the Lexington Center and we are doing it today.  Build the retail and the people will come.

Back in the '60s, when we came to realize that our downtown was losing it luster, we tended to blame crime, outmoded buildings and the daily problems of traffic congestion (usually exacerbated by the railroad running through town).  Our solution was to partake of the new federal program of Urban Renewal and rid ourselves of the eyesores and trouble spots.  

First, the trains had to go.

Rail traffic was waning particularly passenger rail traffic.  1960 saw the fall of Union Station and eight years later the tracks were ripped up.  One of America's life giving arteries was bypassed with the Interstate and New Circle Rd. and the industries felt the need to be near the new artery.  Many special use buildings could not be re purposed and they fell into disrepair.  The activity and the vitality that they used to bring to the area simply ceased to be.

Then, getting into and out of town had to be made easier.

With the railroad gone, the former alignment became a prime location to east-bound part of a one-way couplet of streets to expedite traffic flow.  New Circle had been built to allow traffic to bypass downtown (especially for long haul trucks and cars) but now the new Main and Vine setup made it easier to get into and out of downtown proper.  It also made it easier to get through town and with little to stop for, that is what people did.

Downtown, the financial and legal center of Fayette County.

The area immediately around the (now old) Court House slowly evolved from businesses to banks and lawyer's offices.  The banks grew and grew, always moving into larger and larger buildings while the lawyers took space in whichever parts were not taken by others, as long as they were a short walk from the Courts.  Finding lunch which did not come from a lunch counter or a high end restaurant was a challenge. So much so, that I usually left downtown to get lunch and then get back.  Several building resorted to furnishing their own cafeterias for their staff, they were very much a wasted space for much of the day.

We'll build a focal point, a cultural focal point.

The early '70s found the University's Memorial Coliseum straining at the seams for every home basketball game.  Lexington needed a prime tenant for a new civic arena to which we could attract conventions and concerts.  On paper it made sense, so much sense that everyone else was doing it too.  We also had to allow plenty of space for the local retail to develop where they would take advantage of the increased foot traffic.  By eliminating the possibility of obnoxious or unsavory business in the area, folks would flock to this focal point in droves.  I think that we made our mistake when we removed the existing residential for parking and then refused to convert said parking to any retail use.  Take away your customer base and fail to build in services, what do you think will happen?  We ended up with a great place to play (and watch) basketball and little else.

National championships and sprucing up.

Lexington (and Rupp Arena) was one of the last of the smaller communities and arenas to be chosen for the NCAA Men's Basketball championships and in the early '80s there was a flurry of activity to get downtown ready for 1985.  We needed another downtown hotel and while we were at it some more office space, so we got started on the World Trade Center block and eventually the Festival Market building. 

The idea of festival markets was in full bloom at that time and many major cities wanted to have one.  Most of them were built to augment a local popular or natural feature so as to make it a focal point.  Ours was built AS the focal point to go along with Rupp Arena which, though well used, was being by-passed by many of the conventions and major concerts.  Retail shops on the first two floors and a food court on the third and an indoor carousel forced one to walk through the shops to get to the food and get back to work.  Conversely, the Quincy Market (one of the first) in Boston was set up just the opposite way.  The retail was overpriced and of such a mix that many failed to make it through the early years and eventually the whole place went under.

A little farther away on E. Main St., the World Coal Tower( a 50 story dream of Wallace Wilkinson) also failed and the City quickly stepped in to create a temporary park on the property and had dreams of building an Arts district around the Main and Lime intersection.  They acquired (with State help) and demolished some older retail buildings and then waited for the patrons on art to donate toward some magnificent project.  We are still waiting.

The NCAA Tournaments went well but nothing of such prominence has been held in Rupp since.

Events and festivals.

In the past decade or so, the focus has been on drawing the folks from the suburbs downtown, and especially on days when there is little else going on.  A downtown Farmer's Market on Saturdays or Second Sunday bike activities where one can park close to the action and then escape quickly.  It still forced those attending to drive to and from any event.

One bright spot has been the evolution of the Thursday Night Live series and the Gallery Hop Fridays.  Both events begin before most people leave downtown yet last long enough that others may join the fun once they get home from work. It also helps that more downtown residential has been built for those who want to live downtown, but units for folks who have children or need more than two bedrooms are in very short supply.  With more residential will come the demand for more retail and not the other ay around.

So, what now?

We have a new pavilion in Cheapside and a growing list of restaurants and bars along Main and Short streets. From Victorian Square to the Esplanade, just about all new retail is some sort of entertainment establishment and that may not be a good thing.  What is the saturation point for the downtown entertainment district?  How will we know that we have too many restaurants and bars?  Can we build a downtown on just an entertainment district or do we need other shops and services?  If we can get folks to live downtown, will they still  have to go to the malls to get simple needs other than food and drink?

Just last week, I heard that the Skybar may go the way of Bakers's 360 and for the same reasons.  But their place will be filled with the Parlay Social (a Prohibition lounge) and the Henry Clay Pub to be opened at 112 N. Upper St. (next door to Lexpark offices). 

Is there a saturation point?

 

The Future Of Spotlight

The stage is down. The vendors tents are gone. The hospitality tents are being emptied. The eyes of the world are being focused elsewhere. The homeless are back in Phoenix Park and all is right with the world of Lexington, again.

We had a really exciting run of a Spotlight Festival with people downtown, milling about at all hours during the day - and night. There was a vibe in the crowd that you just don't feel during the usual Thursday Night Live performances. I don't believe that our out-of-town guests brought it with them because they were commenting on it too. This vibe came from us, the local folks, some of which have not been downtown for anything in years - except maybe a ball game.

The local restaurant and bar scene felt the vibe and went with the flow. The ones that I spoke with were extremely happy with the foot traffic and the sidewalk seating, all brought on by some marvelous weather.

One of the first comments that I heard on the street was "This is what a real city is like." and then, as the festival went on, many more along the lines of "We should do this more often." I agree, we should do this more often - starting next year. A commenter on the Herald-Leader web site complained that those considering a yearly continuation should NOT involve the "same old people" and allow those who "really know how do it" to have control. My response to that is - Where have they been and why haven't they done something before now, if they know how to do it?

This festival took a focal event to get some city leaders moving toward this and that won't be here next year. This festival utilized a space which may not be available in the future. And, this festival welcomed many from out of town whom we hope will come back, yet probably not just for a festival of our downtown. This festival needs to be a springboard to greater things, but we NEED to determine just where that is. What local event could we tie into to make this evolving festival unique to Lexington?

We now have a committee charged with the task of charting any future of the Spotlight (boy would I love to help on that) and there is a lot of work to do. There are so many questions to be answered in the coming months but I think that those who participated in and attended the Spotlight Festival have answered the first and most basic one, "do we want this?"

This answer is a resounding YES.

How Do You Like The Spotlight So Far?

Now that the Spotlight Festival has had a few days, I have some observations and some kudos.

I did notice that the food booths have put down some type of matting as flooring, especially the ones that use a cooking oil. Still, the Kettle Korn tent on the corner of Lime and Main will have a stain about three feet out on all sides from the customers spilling some of what they buy. The roving staff are very good about picking up the stray litter and cigarette butts and the recycle bins are being well used.

The traffic situation was expected to be much worse than it seems to have turned out. Limestone, from Vine to Main, has been closed most of the daytime hours but the crowd has been sparse along there even at noon when the tents do good business but the Games are between sessions. Most of us downtown workers were told to expect parking problems and delays, yet I have had no such problems.

The music this past weekend and evenings has been superb. The crowd has been orderly and the "homeless" have been very low key. I did hear one comment during an evening session which went like this, "Now, this is what a downtown should be. Why can't we have a festival like this every year?" These types of comments usually come from those who don't realize just how much work goes into a festival of this size.

This festival is ancillary to the WEG and, if made an annual event, would have to be conjoined with something. I doubt that it could be a 2 week festival if done annually. Spotlight is also taking advantage of situations that may never align the same way again; the streetscape, CentrePointe block and WEG. It may spur interest in more and larger down festivals, but let us just enjoy this one for the time being.

I am not a believer in coincidence so I was amused to see our city workers out ,with a pressure washer and soap, spraying down the block of Corral St. (where the Roots and Heritage cooking was done). If this was a scheduled cleaning, why was it done almost three weeks after the event?

Do you have any thoughts on Spotlight or the WEG?

Proposal For The Fourth Of July

The more hear from folks about last weeks celebration of the Fourth of July and the good job that they did in arranging the venues, the more I believe that most of Lexington think like Mrs. Sweeper. They are under the assumption that there is no good place to park and many stay home.

Mrs Sweeper's desire to catch the trolley and ride in is a good idea even if it is impossible. But why is it impossible in this day and age? The Fourth of July only comes once a year regardless of when you celebrate it and everybody should be encouraged to attend, therefore the city and all of its satellite agencies should do their part. I think that Lextran is one agency that should step to the forefront and provide shuttle service from the neighborhoods at a reduced cost for that one day.

I do realize that Saturday is a normal workday for many folks and it may be a hardship on Lextran and their overtime scheduling, but how often does the Fourth fall on a Sunday and celebrated on the Third? Perhaps if more people were encouraged(and enabled) to get downtown there would be less reason for the suburban retail to be open and thus more folks wanting to get downtown.

This may be something to think about before next year.

Celebrating The Fourth (A Little Early)

I love the downtown celebrations. Especially the Fourth of July, even when it is held on the Third.

When we woke up yesterday and wondered just what we would be doing for the day, I never dreamed that we would leave the young ones at home and do the Fourth by ourselves. I assumed that they would go with us like before but the are in their mid teens and it would be bad to be seen with us.

Mrs. Sweeper asked, as we were getting ready to go out the door, "Where is the closest trolley stop?".

I looked back in disbelief and said "What?".

"I thought that we could walk in to the nearest trolley stop and go down to the street fair and parade", was her answer.

I had to explain that, in the best of times, the trolley ran at lunchtime -11:30 to 1:30- and the evening run for the bar scene AND that the east/west run only went as far east as Midland Ave. and that the main streets would be closed off event. That intersection is nearly a five mile trek for us. We have been known to do it before but we did want to walk around some while we were there. I also suggested that we could take the car and park somewhere close and then walk.

"Well, that is just crazy." she said, "Why don't they want people to come downtown and participate without having to make it difficult? There will be no place to park. With all the streets blocked, you can't get to the garages or get out of them." I did have to agree with her.

We took the car in as far as Woodland Park and walked from there. It is an easy walk that I have done all my life. I do agree that a free trolley ride from these inner suburbs would bring many more folks down for the celebration and may cause some from farther out to consider it. Many of our city residents feel that downtown is somewhere that they go, but only begrudgingly. We should make it far more easy to attend our downtown events.

Once we got downtown, we found that not near as many streets were blocked and the arrangement around the Courthouse Plaza plus the addition of the spaces on Short St. made the whole flow much smoother. I feel that it allowed the businesses to participate more and that it involved many more people. My long time readers will know that I see great things for the Short St area and more changes to come, so I see this as a stepping stone toward that end and would like to keep it for the years to come.

The parade, though shortened, was what we have come to expect (and some loathe) a political and social statement. The politics I can stand, as the reflect they most basic political statement that this country has made- to separate ourselves from others and declare independence. The social differences are just something that we are free to express and I can take them or leave them. Mostly I care to leave them.

I did see one thing that have written about lately. A group of street performers set up on Main St. and playing music. No schedule or advertising but just playing for the crowd. I don't know if they took donations or not but they were doing their part in celebrating the Fourth, their way, and I celebrate them.

After the parade, we made our way back to the car and home for a rest and dinner before all of us going to the fireworks show. Parking was not difficult and the seats were plentiful but the crowd was the most ill-behaved that I can recall. No fights or nastiness, just wandering everywhere by folks of all ages, talking on cell phones and jumping in front of others to take pictures.

And then - BOOM - it was over. Just like that, done. Twenty five minutes and thanks you can go home. My youngest turns to me and says "So, why did we come here?" I replied "To get us ready for the real show tomorrow in Richmond where they know how to do it right".

Lexington, you are getting better but you could learn a few things from Richmond.

Killing It Softly?

I read Steve Austin's post today and quickly fired off a comment, but that just got me thinking more about what I see as a problem downtown.

His statement "When we leave the dream world of the Cheapside market, our true urban reality bitch slaps us" made me realize that we in Lexington create good public open space, marvel in it(until the freshness wears off) and then move on to the next one. We do it all over town, but downtown especially.

Triangle Park was one of the first. A remnant piece across Vine St from the Lexington Center, it was bought by some wealthy friends as a gift to the city and landscaped with a fountain and many lush trees. Designed as a quiet space and a refuge from the bustle of the newly one-wayed Main and Vine Streets, it soon became a place to picnic in the grass and watch the children play in the fountain. They say that liability concerns put a halt to that.

Phoenix Park was hastily bought by the City as an area that needed to be cleaned up in time for the sports world to arrive in town for the NCAA finals. A failed business venture had left a gaping hole in the center of town-that sounds familiar-and the City quickly grassed over the rubble and voila, a park. After 1986, the Library and the State began plans to build on some of the property and the public demanded some public open space remain. Some redesign and a place to relocate some monuments and Lexington had another lunchtime refuge in the downtown.

Across Main St land was acquired for the proposed downtown Arts Center. Both visual and performing arts were to be housed in one place. Kind of like Singletary Center Central. They were grand plans but there was no big wealthy benefactor to complete the deal, so it sat. The State, having bought most of the land and paid for clearing it, then stepped in and designed, built and occupied our new Court House Plaza. Once again, here was a grand plan for open space and fountains, trees and refuge-maybe when the trees get bigger- and a lunchtime place of activity.

Each of these spaces has been allowed to function as a gathering place for memorials or protests, yet none have acted as a center of impromptu or spontaneous performance art. There have been few street food vendors without some coordinated activity also taking place.

Now we have the Cheapside Pavilion, more accurately named the 5/3 Pavilion, scene of a number of weekly activities. All planned and scheduled well in advance but stark and empty the rest of the time. Accompanying this space will be the beautifully done streetscape and rain gardens, will they be as stark and empty without some planned event? I can remember when we had sidewalk benches all along Main and Vine-and trees- until they were being used by the wrong type of citizens. Then they were removed.

There is a muted cry for the current grassy field, beautified for the world-wide company, to be another civic plaza. A place for gathering and enjoying the great outdoors. Some think that they should be allowed to use this space as another of their living rooms. I can't say as they truly use the ones that they have to their fullest extent now. Should this be commandeered and made public, it would remove more taxable property off the rolls(it is bad enough that a church wishes to remove several million dollars worth of commercial property just down the road) and create one more programmable public scape.

The upcoming Spotlight Festival, to held in conjunction with the WEG, is supposed to have a number of street performers at various locations(all approved and coordinated) and this is intended to give our visitors a "sense of Kentucky". As if it happens all the time. We can clearly see that it doesn't. We have been testing all the other venues, maybe we should test the downtown public spaces as we lead up to the games and festival. If the street performers go over well during the festival and the visitors do come back will they find these same performers-or others-anywhere in town?

Mr. Austin thinks that we need a paid coordinator for the 5/3 Pavilion. I think that we need for our creative types to just come up with something and "just do it". There are some events already with set times and they should be avoided, but if you get there first, go ahead and do your thing. Activity breeds activity.

Otherwise, we are killing our downtown softly.

Our Growing Footprint

I have been a little pre-occupied this past week thinking about things other than this blog. Maybe, tonight I can get back to what is going on here.

I saw over on Steve Austin's Bluegrass reVISIONS that we have five years before our carbon emissions should peak or we have reached the tipping point of our slide into doom. Well maybe not that bad, but we need to adjust our lifestyles to make less of a carbon footprint than we do.

He states that Put simply, this means either that we must rapidly scale up renewables or we must reduce economic activity. I wonder if that could not say that we rapidly scale up AND modify our economic activity so as to achieve the same gain from alternative sources. I am not sure that it has to be an either/or situation.

Steve does ask what this means for Lexington, but he seems to be the only one asking out loud. Since the end of May 2008 the people of Lexington have thought about a lot of thing that they could be doing, but none of them concerned our carbon footprint. Football, basketball, horse racing, whether or not a new energy efficient building should be built downtown, downtown traffic patterns of one-way vs two-way, these all made the list, but not "can I live closer to my job?" or can I find an alternate mode to get to work?". These thoughts maybe made the fleeting moment list and were quickly dismissed as Lexington does not do this kind of thing.

Some thoughts that should have been making the rounds are:

• Do I need the fenced in yard that I hate to take care of every weekend of the summer and fall?
• Do I need to run the HVAC all year round just because the house/apartment is designed to prevent flow through air ventilation?
• If the bus(or other transit mode) came by my house would I take it on a regular basis?
• If the grocery was closer to my house would I need such a big refrigerator to store things , or such a big car to haul them or would I need to buy so much in one trip?
• Would my carbon footprint be smaller if I put more of my own on the ground?

On a city-wide level, has there been any discussion of what we can or should do to encourage people to modify their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint? In terms of meaningful discussions, I would have to say NO and in many instances the city leaders actions have done exactly the opposite. The government, on a regular basis, encourages those living in the outer reaches of the urban sprawl to boost the idea of downtown living by adding to the carbon footprint and coming downtown on the off traffic days. The Farmers Market, the weekend festivals throughout the year, the Second Sunday events to promote a cleaner healthier lifestyle, these all add to the overall carbon footprint, not take away from it.

Don't get me wrong, I think that all of these activities are worthwhile, but in places that make ecological sense more than economic sense. I can remember when some of the city's biggest events started out as neighborhood style happenings. The Shakespeare plays were held originally in the grassy field of Bell Court, until it grew too big and moved to Woodland Park. Now it NEEDS the setting of the Arboretum and the associated parking spaces to make a profit. What future does this bode for the new amphitheater in Beaumont Centre? Does this mean that there should be more of these play productions in more neighborhood settings?

I have already posted about the Second Sunday events and the city has responded with monthly escorted bike rides in various sectors of the city, but these all will originate downtown where the participants will have to drive with their bikes, to ride out to the suburbs and return to their cars to take their bikes home. Would it not make more sense to start where the people ARE and go to where some other people ARE and return, then next time start at the previous destination and go the where other people ARE, working your way around the suburban rings of Lexington? There is NO NEED to increase the pollution on an off traffic day all for the name of clean living and exercise.

Has the city encouraged the owners of our downtown buildings to install some type of passive solar collectors on their roofs, or cylindrical wind generators on the upper floors of our high rise structures in an effort to lessen their use of carbon generated electricity. I know that the upper floors of modern building are designed to handle the unseen air movements of the urban climate and that there are several natural wind tunnel like area in the downtown area. Has the city, with its power of granting zoning and development opportunities, sent a clear suggestion of its intent to combat our negative carbon footprint image with some of the proven methods of urban design? Quite the opposite, up until the bursting of the housing bubble, our Urban County Council has continued to send the signal that the current "status quo" will still work in Lexington.

That is about enough for tonight. Maybe we will have more to think about tomorrow.

A Trip To St James Ct.

Friday, Mrs. Sweeper and I made our annual trip to Louisville for the St James Art Show in historic Old Louisville. This trip is one that we make as our time to get away from work, kids and Lexington for the day and just have some time to ourselves(and a few thousand other art lovers).

I watched the weather reports all week hoping for a good forecast and when I awoke Friday morning thought that the day just could be a bust. The radar showed that the rain had cleared the Louisville area so we set out for a cool, dreary day and by the time we arrived in town the sun was bright in the clearing sky.


I have prided myself for years on my knowledge of Lexington, but Louisville has always caused me confusion. I get disoriented very easily in that city. I once drove an older blind friend to Louisville to visit his mother in a nursing home, and though blind, he directed me through areas that I would compare to Hamburg and a back route to downtown. Over the years I have been able to get to St James Ct. from several different directions and get out again.

One thing that did catch my attention this year, is that the timing of the traffic signals in downtown Louisville appear to be on much shorter cycles than Lexington. I know that the average cycle for red lights here is around 70 seconds, but the cycle in Louisville seems to be nearly half of that. Barely seems to be enough time to look around to get ones bearings, does speed up traffic movement though.

I quickly found a place to park some two block walk from the show and we soon were beginning our traipse around the tents of exhibitors. We started at the north end of the booths on Third St and worked our way to and around the corner at Magnolia to the food court at just about noontime. Mrs. Sweeper and I are both fond of gyros and decided to get some and a drink, the first disappointment of the day.

They took Mrs. Sweeper's order first and when I added that I wanted the identical, the girl behind the counter requested another lemonade and figured the total, $12, not bad for fair food. It quickly became obvious that she had not heard the second gyro order and I had to ask again, for another $8. Now, I know that these food booth people are there to make money and it is not simple to set these things up in the field, but I think that this is a little exorbitant. I also think that if they had had a price list prominently visible, I would not have ordered at those prices.

Next the second disappointment. With gyros in one hand and a drink in the other, amidst a gently moving throng, we realized that there was NOWHERE to sit. Central Park beckoned from just behind the food tents, but there was no marked access to the park. We managed to squeeze between two booths, into the park and... nothing but a few taken benches and the muddy, recently rained on ground. This has all the ingredients for a messy disaster in my book; plates full of food(some sticky), a jostling crowd(with kids), and pricey, delicate artwork. Could not the City of Louisville have supplied a number of picnic tables in an area of the park? I know that Lexington has for just about any festival event in town.

These problems behind us, we then began the circuit of the St James Ct. portion, down the west side of St James, Belgravia to Sixth and back, St James to Hill St then back to Belgravia's eastern half, back to St James for the east side. The serpentine route through the median arrangement of booths brought us back to the park edge and it was closing in on 5:00 P.M. We still had the Fourth St. vendors and the southern end of Third St. to go before we wanted to leave.

We saw some beautiful pieces of art and saw some of the newer works of those artists that we like. We bought a few things and looked for pieces that had the right color or shape or style for those few problem areas at home. Some of the prices were just out of our league, but we enjoy going to see whats new and it is our little get-away.

We had intended to stop on the way out of town for dinner at a little place on Bardstown Rd. but like I said before, I get all turned around in Louisville and I don't have a good map(or GPS) in my car. Mrs Sweeper is geographically impaired, which is why she has me, but I was of no use yesterday and we had to get back home before it got too late. Cracker Barrel had to fill in for the Mediterranean food that we had desired.

All in all it was a good trip. We love being in the older parts of downtowns, no matter which city, and the beautiful old houses and buildings are a joy. There were some high points and some low points and Louisville still confuses me.

But there is always next year.

Is The Downtown Spotlight On Dim?

I was wandering around the Spotlight Lexington website last night, when one of the headlines caught my eye. There is a second call for artwork to be utilized in a poster for the free festival that Lexington is preparing to coincide with the WEG(World Equestrian Games).

A second call. What happened to the first call?

I searched through the earlier posts and found the first call for art. This was issued probably in May as the deadline for submission was June 26th of this year. A simple set of rules and very little description of desired content. Horizontal in nature and may be done in any medium.

Then on the first of July there was a deadline extension until July 15th. Did they not get enough entries to have a contest? Were the entries depicting scenes undesired by the committee? Winners would now be notified by August 10th.

Now there is this second call for art. The rules are fleshed out a little and a few more restrictions are placed on content. Still, there is no better idea for concept than before. The most prominent restriction is the prohibition of any connection to the WEG. Just show some festive occurrence in downtown Lexington.

Things must be going fairly poorly for these guys. I just don't feel the groundswell of optimism about this and the sponsors seem to be few and far between.

I'll keep my eye on this as we get closer.

Another Trade Show and First Impressions

There is still over a year to go until the World Equestrian Games will be held in Lexington. Massive plans are being laid for an extravaganza at the Horse Park and the City is hatching a scheme to lure all the visitors downtown for a festival and ... uh... uh... some other ways to get them to part with their money.

It used to be that when events happened downtown and crowds would gather, that the local merchants and even street vendors could expect a rise in foot traffic and sales. It was every man for himself and all stood to gain. Unfortunately that also applied to the thieves and pickpockets that worked the crowds. This event, or festival, will be different in that the City will control just about all aspects of the downtown streets for those sixteen days. All the street vendors, musicians and artisans will be regulated by the City and woe to all the out-of-towners who decide at the last minute to arrive to test the waters.

There will be an equestrian trade show at the Horse Park for all the owners, participants and fans to buy the latest horse related goodies and the newest products. Hopefully there will also be some Lexington themed souvenirs by which they can remember their trip. At $12,000 per sales booth, these will be some high end sales places.

Now there will also be another trade show, downtown in the Lexington Center, either aimed at the visitors (when they get downtown) or those who cannot get to the Horse Park. This show appears to be for the lesser participants and/or the locals.

All this has caused me to wonder how all these plans and proposals will benefit me directly, in other words, how will my income increase during these sixteen days? Will there be money flowing liberally and how can I intercept some of it? I am starting to feel that I shan't see a significant difference at all and if the past few Fourth of July parades and festivities are any indication the downtown will be overrun with all kind of folk looking for something cheap.

My worst fear is that the Europeans will arrive hoping for some semblance of civility and decent transportation services and we will be found lacking, in one if not both. Getting people from the venue to downtown for re-medaling ceremonies will be a monumental chore. There is a railroad track, shown on all the maps, that runs in a straight line, from downtown to within a few kilometers of the Horse Park entrance. How do you tell a European that there is no passenger service on that line? Not from downtown, a short distance, nor from Cincinnati and Louisville, both medium distances. Parking will be at a premium, both at the Horse Park and downtown, for personal autos and rentals.

Many people fear that we will get a black eye due to a vacant city block, yet it would have been far worse if it was a decrepit, mostly vacant block, that looked nothing like what their historic buildings are. There is currently a surge of remodeling and new businesses in the downtown area which is unusual for an economic downturn and I hope that both they and our visitors can last through the Games.

I have been involved in many of the past "landmark" events of the '80s and '90s and I would like to sit this one out for the most part and just pick up a few memories from the sidelines. I hpoe that I don't have to say that "I told you so".

Downtown proponents want "Vibrant"

Main Entry: vi·brant
Pronunciation: \-brənt\
Function: adjective
Date: 1616

1 a (1): oscillating or pulsating rapidly (2): pulsating with life, vigor, or activity

The Urban County Council was told today that the people want downtown to be "vibrant" in order to retain the "young professionals" that we have leaving the city in droves. Or at least that is what I got from the article in the Herald Leader, written by our own "Rita Skeeter" Beverly Fortune. Lexington needs to do more to bring in a wide array of cultural activities, which are characterized by festivals (more disorganized uses in the public spaces), bar, restaurants and other unnamed activities designed to separate you from your money. The proponents seem to require the governments help in generating the activity in the downtown area that they cannot create, even though they have spent $200 million of their own money trying.

Downtown does need to have more activity at night than it does now, but adding large numbers of music clubs and nothing else in a certain area for night time vigor will only create a dead zone during the day. We saw that with the CentrePointe block for the past few years. Another way of getting night time activity is downtown residential and we have built a substantial number of new condos in the last few years, but they are not affordable, nor are they sized for the urban family (three bedrooms or more).

Lexington does need to have more use of its public open space, but that does not mean structured activities each and every weekend with a festival or parade of some sort, just allow the people to assemble to do what the wish (within reason) and give the citizens back the streets. When the crowds attain critical mass the retail will follow.

The article did have some suggestions for bringing "vibrancy" to downtown. One of those was revamping the sign ordinance and allowing overhanging signs again. Maybe the flashing, pulsating kind that characterized the '30's -'50's . Or maybe, a sign review committee to permit signage. One supporter suggested "taking our foot off the brake", but from my reading the ordinance for downtown zones, they pretty much allow for most of these uses already.

The chairman of the Downtown Entertainment Task Force said, people want to see aggressive recruiting of "entrepreneurial activities downtown.", yet such aggressive action takes time and money, and as we saw over the weekend the Airport has come under scrutiny for their "aggressive recruiting" by their manager. Lexington would have to hire a recruiter, give them a budget of public funds, identify the specific needs and go after someone to fill the need. That sounds like a full staff to me. One more government department in times of shrinking revenue.

Government should do what the people cannot do for themselves, not will not do for themselves. Let the people create the vibrant downtown that the people want and let government stand back and smile and nod approvingly.

Oktoberfest and Public Spaces

Okay,I did make it to Oktoberfest. A friend and co-worker's band played on Saturday afternoon and we went to see him perform. As usual I did run into other friends and I must say we had a good time, even the little ones.

On our way back home we encountered a situation along a narrow roadway, whereupon we met another car traveling in the opposite direction, two parked cars on either side if the street and room enough for only one car to proceed through. We both slowed down, trying to gauge just whom got there first, then the other car stopped. This was all well and good, but he stopped in just the wrong spot for a smooth maneuver where nobody would have to stop. I mentioned to all in the car that this brings up, what I call the "general rule of public spaces".

The General Rule of Public Spaces states that if any one person or group of people wishes to meet or stop moving in a public space, it will be where it will inconvenience the greatest number of the other people in said space. Think about it, when someone walks into a room at a party or other event, the first thing they will do is stop. Stop and look around. It is even worse if they are a group, it then takes longer to decide where in the room to proceed. If a pair of old friends greet each other and talk, it will be in the doorway from one room to another, or at the only access to a seating area, or even worse, between your seat and the bar. I also think that the size of the impediment is inversely proportional to the impeded.

This general rule also shows up in a larger scale when dealing with larger events. Take the preparation for the downtown festivals that have been held lately. Now before I begin, don't go thinking that I dislike downtown festivals. I do like the festivals and they do much to bring life and vitality to the downtown area. I do pick and choose the ones that I will attend but they all have their place in the fabric of downtown living. What I have a problem with is the timing of the preparation for the festivals.

The last two festivals have been planned to begin on Friday nights, around 5:30 or 6 p.m. There fore the layout of stage, food booths and vendors stalls have to begin at noon or before. For the Roots and Heritage Festival this meant closing Elm Tree Lane early in the afternoon and causing an inconvenience to those who use Elm Tree to leave downtown after work, clearing the way for coming for the event to have someplace to park. To me this was only a minor problem. On the other hand, the Festiva Latino was on the Courthouse Plaza so about noon they closed Short St and two lanes of N Limestone. This of course backed up traffic past Maxwell St. and, due to a combination of lack of warning and adjusting of the traffic signal timing, backed up traffic on Main St and Vine St for several blocks.(probably also High and Maxwell)

I don't profess to have the answers for all this but I have been part of the planning and implementation of some large events and recognition of a problem is a step toward a solution. Maybe what Lexington needs is not only a special events person(which we have) but also a logistics person to direct the setup of all downtown events. Someone who can coordinate manpower and have the material/equipment to place everything accordingly. I know that we have had some of these people in the past but it seems we lack them now.

On a final note, I wish that the people of Lexington, those who attend these public gatherings, be they small or large, would try to take care of their public spaces as they would their homes. Simple things like no littering and cleaning up after themselves. The cleaning fairy is not on retainer in Lexington. Even the Farmers Market is not immune and some of the vendors in the summer, at the height of the season, have left the area worse than they found it. This is a problem with the festivals and the Streets and Roads crews do not power wash when they clean up. I just wish that Lexingtonians would take care of their public spaces as they do their homes, but looking around, maybe they do.

Until next time.