Pedestrian Aides In Lexington

I am continually looking at articles about city life, both in America and abroad. Lately, I have seen an increase in items about city benches and their relationship to city street vitality and pedestrian friendliness. Seems like sometimes folks just want to “sit a spell” or converse, while others are willing to just watch the world go by.

In Lexington, outside of a handful of locations downtown, street side benches and tables with chairs are reserved for the sidewalk cafe/patios of restaurants' patrons and generally made unusable outside of their operation hours. From what I have observed over 40+ years, any street furniture, which is usually a large part of all streetscape plan considerations, is slowly removed from the plans and from the streets.

It is often claimed that these benches and seating areas are being abused or misused, simply by being used by the “wrong type” of occupant or for longer time periods than typical use entails. That's right, the vagrants and “homeless” of our fair city are not the vitality which we want to see on our streets.

At least one group is looking at encouraging seating for pedestrians in one of our larger cities. Streetseats.org is compiling a wiki-like database of locations where simple folks can sit and rest while shopping or sight seeing. Their philosophy is summed up from their web page:

As silly as it sounds, the opportunity to sit down is one of the great joys, if not necessities of urban living. Yet cities the world over fail to provide enough places for people to rest, socialize, or simply watch the world go by. We think this needs to change,                          Streetseats.org

So far, their data seems to only include lower Manhattan and some of Brooklyn, but it could be expanded to a national network. I would like to see Lexington on this list somehow. Can you imagine a simple bench like the one outside of the fictional Floyd's barber shop in Mayberry, R.F.D.?

As long as we are speaking of additions coming to our streets, let me bring up the Bourbon Barrel Project on Town Branch set for public display in September. It appears to be a bit different from the previous Horse Mania (both herd 1 & herd 2) and Doors displays which extended outside of downtown. These will be decorated, used Town Branch bourbon barrels all along the Town Branch Trail, including the portion proposed to be resurfaced. Hopefully this event will be as successful as in the past.

The past displays have occupied location of high pedestrian traffic volume and sometimes impeded that traffic just to get noticed. The places of their final standing are well out of the usual traffic pattern. I noticed the other day that one of the 2000 herd (on West Main St) was looking a tad weather-worn and the applied jewels were flaking off as eleven years of harsh winter weather have taken a toll.

Now, what if, in the coming years we could bring these two ideas a little closer together? We have seen what art installations and transit have in common and the public's desire for additional examples. Just suppose that an arts group was to design decorative seating to be placed where they can be used to the peoples advantage. Decorated as public art, used as a benefit and maintained as a public service.

Will LexArts think about doing an installation like this? Probably not. Will Lexington consider its pedestrian needs as the city continues to grow its urban core? Only time will tell. Do these things need to be discussed? I and apparently some other urban citizens certainly think so.

Was The CentrePointe TIF Area Not Well Thought Out?

As of Friday afternoon, the Lexington History Museum has been closed due to excessive paint dust which contains lead. Lead paint was used almost exclusively in the prime years of the old court house, both before and after the major remodeling which took place in the '60s.

I find it interesting that this announcement comes just after I posted about Lexington's lack of will to maintain (or complete) many of their projects of late. This is just another example.

For the last 4 years now, the old court house has been THE major building residing in the Urban County Council designated Phoenix Park/Courthouse Area TIF district, or what everyone else calls the CentrePointe TIF area. Almost all of the rest of the properties are street rights-of-way, parking lots or other government owned park property. That makes the CentrePointe project and the McCarthy's block of buildings the sole generators of any taxes which may be incremented.

The beneficiaries of these funds are quite specific:

• A tunnel connecting Phoenix Park to CentrePointe. (No longer a part of the Project)
• A pedway connecting the Financial Center Garage to CentrePointe. (also not a part)
• A Phoenix Park Garage. (has been removed from project)
• Restoration of the Fayette County Courthouse and Cheapside Park / Plaza.
• Makeover of old courthouse building including new roof, windows, atrium, and infrastructure. In addition, the courthouse plaza will be redeveloped to include the proposed closing of Cheapside Road. (Except for the restoration, all of this has been done)
• Permanent display space and building for the Lexington Farmer's Market. Though not built to the detailed specs, this is essentially complete.
• Streetscape improvements including street art. Main and Vine are done Lime, Upper and Short are lacking.

That is it. Straight from the TIF agreement of September of 2009. CentrePointe has been scaled back and much of the other work has been financed by some other method. And the old Court House waits, and waits.

The taxes from which these funds are to come are also spelled out in the document:

• Ad Valorem Property Taxes levied under KRS 132.020(1)(a)
• Individual Income Taxes levied under KRS 141.020
• Sales Taxes levied under KRS 139.200

At present, I guess that only the McCarthy's crew and the reduced property value of the pasture are paying into that amount and it is well below what was projected on that block.

Meanwhile, as documented here and elsewhere, the Short St blocks (plural) are very much alive with NEW businesses, NEW sales and NEW property values due to the renovation work being done. This is money that could have and should have been added to the TIF calculations. I don't think that many people saw the revitalization of Short St four years ago and certainly not without government support. I can see success building on success in this area and yet I also see the opportunity to leverage this growth into the repair and renovation of the Lexington History Museum slipping quietly away.

I have been a very big supporter of the CentrePointe project from its initial announcement and still believe that something will break soon. I see the 21c hotel as being one more major enhancement for downtown but the ability to use its increment for public projects will also be lost if something isn't done soon.

If I read the agreement correctly, the agreement is self renewing unless one of the parties gives written notice 60 days prior to the annual termination date of Sept 23. I have heard of no public declaration that anyone has asked for a termination, but it may have happened.   Perhaps we should terminate this one and prepare a new one in order to fulfill the promise which the revitalization of Short St has shown for downtown.

If you wish to read the agreement, you can find it here.  The map of the TIF district is on page 18.

Finishing What We Started

Does anybody remember this piece of topiary and how it was to look during the World Equestrian Games?  

This wireframe of a raring horse was planted with 7 varieties of clematis representing the 7 continents from which the games contestants came.  It was placed more than 2 years ago and the plants were to be tended and fed so as to be in full bloom during the games.  It is supposed to be a legacy of the games for the "Horse Capital of the World", yet it seems to be dying back.

Last year the vines had risen to the height of the base of the neck, now they barely make it to the hindquarters.  Someone has really fallen down on the job of maintaining this piece of public art.

The State Government and the Horse Park were the main driving force behind the WEG and the Lexington Government basically tried to move heaven and earth to be ready in time for the games.  The did move a lot of earth. But this topiary is on State property(the Court House Plaza) and the City made many announcements with it as a backdrop.  Both entities seem to lay some sort of claim to it, but I don't think either of them are doing much for it.  Could the change in administration have had this much effect on things?

Similar type questions may be asked about our street trees downtown.  Since I have been working downtown the street trees on Main St have been put in three times and the trees that were originally put in under Urban Renewal are all gone.  

Does anyone remember the well shaded plaza in front of the "Gold Bank", otherwise known then as Citizens Union?  Or the benches under those shady trees?  All gone.  Something about the public using them during the day.

Our downtown street trees have been placed in tree wells and either mulched or surrounded with a grating of some sort. Then we just sit around and watch the weeds take over, the brick pavers buckle and the iron grates lift due to the roots being confined to the wells.  Eventually, the trees encounter stress or disease and begin to decline and die.  We have an urban forester on staff but he and his crew are kept busy looking at what we can do next, while the present situation continues to devolve.

Sometimes, looking for the next big thing just gets in the way of finishing or maintaining what we have.  We are continually painting the doors and windows and ignoring that the foundation leaks.

Public Art On Display

I received a note from the "Storm Drain Girls" today and they are finally finished. Blake and Cynthia have done a beautiful job.

Below is a tally of their accomplishments and I also welcome Blake as my newest follower.

27 locations
30 finished storm drains!
1 curb painted per request by the Lexington Police Department

1. Mechanic and Limestone
2. Limestone and 6th
3. Limestone and Short (2)
drains near the Justice bldgs and Giacomo's/Mia's
4.Limestone and Church
(near George's deli)
5. Short and Broadway
6. Clay and High
7. Stone and High
8. High between MLK and Hagerman
9. Main and Jefferson
10. Maxwell and Rose
11. Eastern and Main (2) one on each side
12. 3rd and Limestone
13. 3rd and Elm Tree Lane
14. Elm Tree Lane and 3rd
15. Clay and Central Avenue
16. Central and Clay
17. Old Vine and Vine
18. Vine and Old Vine
19. Euclid and High
(near Buddy's patio)
20. Double Storm Drain on Euclid and Woodland
21. Euclid before Rose Street
22. Rose and High
23. Jefferson and 3rd
(across from The Green Lantern)
24. High at the YMCA
25. MLK and Main street
26. Main street ~The Kentucky Theater (2)
(this one's for you Freddie!)
27. Main and Rose
and
1. Curb at Main and Rose Street

I don't have a photo of all their work and I was not the first to notice or blog on their progress, but I have found that their project is one that has captivated the whole city. It has stirred up almost as much press as the HorseMania display.

Speaking of the HorseMania, I see that they have begun corralling the steeds in preparation for winter and the fund-raising auction. I saw many of them this time around and was asked the other day if it would be another decade before we see a new set of horses and artists. Don't you think that it would be a hoot if the had them all on display in the CentrePointe "pasture" and held the auction there?

I also witnessed what may be called "performance art" although it may have been a free spirited young lady just having a little fun. There she was dancing to the music on her iPod in front of the fountain in the Court House plaza.

This is something that we could stand a little more of, don't you think?

Woodland Arts Fair Art For The Park

Next weekend is the 35th edition of the Woodland Arts Fair. Of all the activities held in the park, it is the longest running and best attended since the mid '30s and I have been to all of them.

I have seen Little League, Pony League baseball, Peewee League football, The Sunday Fast-Pitch tournaments, yearly swim meets, concert band series' and Shakespeare in the Park(after it out grew Bell Court). I have seen the two variations of the pool and remember the earlier one adjacent to the pavilion near the playground. There were also some volleyball courts, boundball courts and large, double well sand (feral cat litter) box. I was in the park daily from about 6 years to after I was 31.

Mrs Sweeper and I make it a point to attend two art fairs each year, the St James Fair in Louisville and the Woodland Arts Fair. It was during the art fair nearly twenty years ago while we were dating that we met my sister among the tents. I introduced them and we had a brief conversation and upon parting I spoke an aside to my sister, "I think that I'm gonna marry this woman". At this moment, Mrs Sweeper knew that she had let me chase her until I was firmly on her hook and she was reeling me in. That was it, no ring, no bended knee, no nothing, just a cute comment and I had committed to life.

All of this is to say that Woodland Park is a large part of my life. A great deal of my history lies in that park. The one thing that is missing both from the park and my history is some form of public art in the park. I can remember no public art ever being displayed anywhere in the park nor have seen any account of such. When they tore down the auditorium and replaced it with the weak, Realtor's Plaza, I believe that there was some talk of displaying something there but it failed to materialize.

I read and I post about public art, what it is, how it should be funded and where it should or should not be. I will state now, probably for the first time, that I would like to see some sort of public sculpture/fountain/statue placed in the park that has been the home of our premier arts event and I am sure will be its home for many years to come. The St James Ct. location started off with a beautiful large fountain and I don't expect that we will ever see something like that, but they have added some smaller pieces over the years and we could try for that.

How many of you will join me in calling for some public art in Woodland Park?

Eco Art In Lexington

The other day I wrote about some of the newer public art that I have seen around town. These artworks are fanciful pictures adorning a number of downtown storm sewer inlet boxes and last Friday I caught them in the act.

This is actually part of an EcoArt grant from the The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's Department of Environmental Quality and LexArts. I would think that it is probably the most visible of the listed grants and the brainchild of Blake Eames and Claudia Michler.

Blake has named this series "Made you look" and it is supposed to get you to look at the storm drains in a different way. All of these inlets lead to the Town Branch Creek and then to the Kentucky River. Anything other than water tends to be a pollutant, even grass and leaves if they occur in sufficient quantity. Paper, cigarette butts and sundry other street trash are all undesirable pollutants and hopefully an artistically themed inlet will help you think about just tossing your trash in the street.

The one pictured above is at the corner of Main and Eastern and should be the tenth or eleventh of the the 30 that they intend to do. They all are different and take some elements from the surroundings, though it is not always quite so obvious.

Keep an eye out for these ladies as the continue to decorate and draw awareness to the local storm drains in the downtown area over the next few weeks. If you see them, give them a big "Thank you " from the whole community and maybe we will see more of them in the future.

Street Scenes As We Get Closer To WEG

I have been surprised at the response to the last post, especially the part about the WEG prices. Everyone seems to be talking about the lack of ticket sales and the sudden reduction of some event prices. I still cannot afford to see any of the events, with or without the rest of the family.

I really must thank the guys over at Barefoot and Progressive for their link and the response of their readers. They are not just another Kentucky blog.

Now, on to some of the other things going on in town. First district councilwoman Andrea James has been featured in a video on Kentucky.com looking at the conditions of the downtown sidewalks. Not so much the walking surface but the poorly placed nightly obstructions. I have looked at some of these in the daytime.

Easily the best use of space when the tables are not in use is this place on the corner of South Limestone and West Vine. The new streetscape is a real boon to the walkability of the area and I am sure that it will be better when the whole project is done.


I think my next favorite would be the stretch (above) from The Taste of Thai to Bellini's on Main St. I think that they could be pushed a little closer to the street and I would hope for a bit more coordination from all the restaurants there. At night it is a little tighter but not all that bad.


Mia's(above) also does a good job of storing the furniture during the off hours but the narrowness of the Short St sidewalk does cause problems at night. Just around the corner and up Limestone, a la Lucie's(below) tries hard to not crowd the space too much. If North Limestone were to be done like they did on the south side things could be real sweet.


The part of Short St on the west side of Cheapside also has its good neighbors during the daytime. Most of Cheapside's (below) tables along the street are tight against the building although there could be some widening of the sidewalk in the future. I would certainly hope that Short is considered soon after they turn it into two-way.

We have talked many times about Mill St and, to be sure, it could be turned into a pedestrian mall quite easily. Most of the bar there store their tables and chairs inside during the day and those who do serve lunch outside have very limited seating and still crowd the street. All in all they do the best that they can. The one place that I consistently see as a poor effort toward storing their tables out of the way is on Main St in front of Victorian Square. DeVassa rarely leaves sufficient space for two to walk their door and seems to try to make it more convoluted each time I go by there. Two examples are shown below.




















These tables are usually stacked near the two light poles and not beyond the parking kiosk where there is more room. A relocation of the trash/recycling receptacle would also ease things a bit. A little more thought should go into their arrangement.

I have also noticed a new collection of public art which, though small, I hope grows to include all of downtown. I would like to know what you think.




and

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.

Art Style Bus Shelter Updates

If my information is correct, and I have every reason to believe that it is, we should see the art style shelter planned for Newtown Pike coming alive very soon.

They have their design, they have a location, they have $30,000 in pledges from Lextran and others and they have a (probably self imposed) deadline of before the World Equestrian Games. So I have a feeling that we will see something in the near future.

Art In Motion should be in the process of reviewing the entries of the design competition for the shelter to be built in Aylesford (behind the King Alumni House) and the winner is supposed to be announced on April 14.

The buzz that I hear is very positive about other potential locations. The developers of the Hamburg development, I think, are looking a multiple locations and I would guess that they will be in a common theme. My bet would be an equestrian theme as all the street names are horse related.

I spoke with someone from the Southland Drive area the other day and learned that they have been mulling the idea for over a year. With both the Good Foods Co-op renovation and the continued success of the Sunday farmers market, either location would make a nice site. The Southland portion of the bus route has also proved to be a winner for Lextran.

There are other interested parties and suggested locations being bandied about and I am starting to feel that this could begin to overwhelm this small group. I don't see any reason to prevent another similar organization from also supporting Lextran in like fashion, but there should be a central coordinating panel, free of politics and its infighting to help spread the wealth.

Lexington could soon have a good number of clean, well lit, art style shelters and the Lextran riders (as well as the neighbors) will benefit.

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.

Art Style Bus Stop Progress

Back in January I wrote about some ideas for the seemingly growing, interest in bus stops done up in a designer style, so called art stops. In that post I gave some examples of places and possible design themes, and although nobody gave any responses, I know that they were read and discussed somewhere. Again at the first of this month, I posted about the coming art stop at Third and Elm Tree Lane.

Now I hear that there is dissension in the ranks of those behind the art stops, Art in Motion, and those artists who could be the future designers of the art stops.

In my mind there is a sufficient amount of work for the number of artists and designers in Lexington. This should be looked at as an on-going civic program. One that adds a number of art stops a year, maybe not more than ten or so, based on available funding. There could be some kind of competition with categories for veteran and novice artists. Points could be awarded for designs that fit best with its location, or for enhancing or emboldening the location. These are elements that will come in time as the program grows beyond its baby steps.

As I see it we have a pretty good first step and some likely slippery ground to cover before we can run with this thing. What we don't need is a lot of mud slinging and raining on everybody's parades.

Art on E. Third St

Last week I attended the kick off party for the Issac Murphy Memorial Art Garden. This garden will be located at the intersection of E Third St and Midland Ave. This garden is dedicated to the memory of probably the finest jockeys of his, of maybe even all time. Murphy's skills on the race track are legendary.

The Art Garden is situated between the iconic Thoroughbred Park and the site of the old Kentucky Association race track, in an area that would now be known as "the backside", an area that jockeys know well. There will be space for both passive and performing art to be displayed and an interactive wall of art and information.

It is also the starting point for the Legacy Bike trail, to be built as a legacy project for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. This trail will wind through town, out Newtown Pike, past the Coldstream Research Park and on to the Kentucky Horse Park. Along the way the trail will pass the Lyric Theater on the corner of Third and Elm Tree Lane, and another long awaited addition to the cultural scene of downtown and the East End. Funding for the construction is in place but operational support is being raised.

So much for the "big ticket "items. Also on the horizon is the latest "art style" bus shelter, or art stop. Diagonally across from the Lyric, on a sliver of property between Elm Tree and the Episcopal Cemetery, will soon rise Lexington's newest art stop.

Art in Motion, as I understand it, has received funding and has a preliminary design(the same guys that did the Newtown Pike shelter) and needs to have a substantial portion of the work completed by the end of June. From the sketch that I've seen, with a few tweaks here and there, it is going to be a great artistic addition to E Third St.

On the other side of the block from this location, at the Living Arts and Science Center, they have started receiving the next batch of Horse Mania statues for the summer of 2010. I wonder if they have thought about placing some of these along the Legacy Bike trail.

This should be only the start for art on E Third St.

Lexington Developments--Feb 2009

For those of you who follow my postings on Skyscraper City this may be nothing new, but I hope to give a little background for this weeks developments.

First off, there is the progress around the Medical Center ,and this time it's private money. The property between the Shell station and the new parking garage will soon break ground for a seven story hotel. I've been told that it will be Hampton Inn and the latest plan shows awnings or canopies protruding over the sidewalk, like they want to do a sidewalk style dining area.

This development is much different from that proposed many years ago. The first proposal for this site was dated Jan. 12, 1967. At that time they called it White Towers because the proposal was for two apartment towers of 9 floors each, above a parking structure which would cover the entire block. The engineering firm of Proctor, Davis & Ray owned and occupied the light colored building to the right of the photo above, had options to purchase the rest of the block and prepared the plans.

P,D & R's primary field was water and sewer projects with some aviation work and the project languished. They applied for and received their R-5 zoning, but I guess the options expired and others started acquiring the small residential lots. The Medical School students needed inexpensive apartments close to the hospital and between the Walton brothers and Henry Cravens that need was met.

When the University began accumulating property in the area, a revised plan for more of a mixed use project was brought forward. It is theorized that, with an approved plan in place, the owners could maximize their asking price in case of a condemnation by UK. Simultaneously, the need has grown for lodging of families of non-local patients under long term care. This latest plan will now apparently fill a portion of that need. Oddly enough, there was a small motel on the block now occupied by the Kentucky Clinic and Nursing School back in '67.


The other new announcement today was about the Downtown enhancements for the Farmers market and the Streetscape proposals. The images above show just the type of structure I would like to see and is what I had in mind when I posted about a possible entertainment district along Short St between Mill and Cheapside. A light, airy covering of late 1800's style and although this covers Cheapside and not Short, it will fulfill the idea. The possibility of using it for many other functions and events is really a plus. The rendering also seems to show that the Breckenridge statue will be moved toward Main St. and some more public artwork added(also topics of earlier blog posts). The addition of an "art style" bus stop would complete the trifecta.

Some comments on the Herald-Leader web site have called this a waste of money and suggest that it be better suited for the Lexington Mall location. Are these the same folk that raked former Mayor Issac about her foray into a condemnation of said mall and now chastise the current Mayor for not doing the same? Are they the same folk who complain the downtown is not vibrant and will not spend any effort to make it so? Some downtown decisions of the past have been shown to be less than useful and some just plain mistakes. Please, let us learn from those mistakes and move forward but not so rapidly as to make even larger mistakes.

With all the effort looking toward the streetscapes, I would hope that they don't forget the new emphasis on railed transit by the current Federal administration and at least contemplate a possible future rail tram in the downtown area.

Hopefully this next year will find downtown a mess with new building projects galore.

Distinction Setting

The latest Business Lexington is out and has a wonderful piece about the "art style" bus stops. They write:

Our first public art bus shelter radiates with a sort of mesmerizing green glow, but if you have not seen it, it might be because the new shelter is inconspicuously situated along Versailles Road just outside of town.

As you can see, it is a beautiful resting place, out of the elements to wait for the bus. This is a program that I can get behind. The article had a rendering of the, apparently next, art bus stop to be built somewhere along Newtown Pike and the plans filed for the Distillery District show a bus shelter at each of their current project phases. I can't imagine Barry McNeese not desiring to have them in the "art type" for this very creative district.

I have mentioned before the idea of "branding" and bus stops for the Colt circulator. Possibly a design contest among the horse owners and breeders, but why stop there, others of our signature industries/business could sponsor a shelter. Lexington is fortunate to have some unique business entities located here. Those that come to mind are:

Smuckers (The only location to produce Jif peanut butter)
Big Ass Fan Co (A major producer of industrial fans)
Wabasto Sunroof Systems

There are probably more but this is all I could come up with on short notice.

I have heard that a prominent developer is considering designing art stops for their extensive retail and shopping/office park endeavors and having met them before, I believe that it will be done with real class.

And talk about being "shovel ready" projects, some of these will take a little design work but will employ artists and craftsmen for at least a few years.

I wish to thank everyone involved in this distinction setter for Lexington, just let me know how I can help.

Shelters for the Trolley Riders

On the MLK Holiday, Lextran and Art in Motion cut the ribbon on their first artistically designed bus shelter the Bottlestop, in front of the LFUCG campus on Versailles Rd.

AIM's website shows that they are planning to do more "art stops" in the near future.

East End Shelter
Newtown Pike Art Shelter
Euclid Avenue Art Shelter

The two preceding facts combined with the discussion of "branding" for the circulator trolley could lead to some serious thoughts about bus stops in the downtown area. I don't think that anyone is giving it much thought now, so I went on the trail to see if I could find just something.

The current version of the Lexington Streetscape Master Plan has very little about the bus stops in the downtown and only lists a few locations for stops to be considered. They are:

145 East Main Street across the street from the Police Station.
Main Street at Cheapside in front of the Court House.
333 W Main Street.
200 W Vine Street in front of PNC Bank.

The Streetscape Plan does call for the new bus stops to be of the art type, but other than this there is very little said. The draft Downtown Masterplan says absolutely nothing.

Once again it appears that mass transit, in the form of Lextran, is left to the mercy of the current riders and given no incentive to prepare for any new ones. Even in the context of "complete streets", where pedestrians and cyclists are well cared for, the lowly transit rider is not mentioned. Is it possible that with the restoration of the circulator trolleys, that the branding could in some way lead to an art stop in one of these proposed places?

From what I have been told, the branding will run along the lines of "The Colt". This seems simple enough, a colt is a young male horse, something that will grow up to be a mature animal someday. (maybe there is hope for a real streetcar someday.) There are some statues in Thoroughbred Park of some colts, the ones frolicking on the hill, the one of the baby near Main St. the one of Lexington near Short and the ones driving for greatness at the finish line. What this park doesn't have is an art bus stop.

If what I proposed here the other day could be built upon, this would be either the start or the finish of the entertainment loop, and what would be better than a Colt branded, art type, bus stop. As I think of it now, this could be difficult to do or it could be simple. I doubt that we could get Gwen Reardon to donate her talents to help design a stop, but something along that line is not totally out of the question. This will go a long way toward making up for the lack of public art which I posted about back in November. There are other equine artists working in bronze . Seeing as how the Triangle Foundation own the park, could we approach them for a little assistance.

What about a challenge to some of the famous horse owners to have a design for their top thoroughbred, for a series of stop progressing down Main St. (and maybe some Standardbreds along Short)?

I have shown disdain for this in the past and still believe that we as Lexington can do better, do more, for the mass transit starved people of Central Kentucky, but if I can put forth these ideas as an opponent what are the proponents putting forth? Where is our "creative class" in such an artistic endeavor?