Downtown Louisville Totally Explained

Everything about Downtown Louisville totally explained

Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the state of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west. As of 2000, the population of Downtown Louisville was 2,575.
The five main areas of the Central Business District consist of:

West Main District (west of 2nd St., north of Market St., east of 9th St., and south of the Ohio River)
East Main District (east of 2nd St., north of Market St., west of Hancock St., and south of the Ohio River)
Medical Center (east of 2nd St., south of Market St., west of Hancock St., and north of Jacob St.)
Fourth St. District (south of Market St., west of 2nd St., north of York St., and east of 5th St.)
Civic Center (south of Market St., west of 5th St., north of York St., and east of 9th St.) The tallest buildings in Kentucky are located in Downtown Louisville and include the AEGON Center designed by John Burgee, National City Tower designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, PNC Plaza designed by Welton Becket, and the Humana Building designed by Michael Graves. Of the 16 buildings in Kentucky over 300 feet, 12 are in Downtown Louisville. In addition, it's the center of local and regional government.

A glassed-in Skywalk that stretches six city blocks links together the Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), Fourth Street Live, three hotels (Galt House Hotel & Suites, Marriott and Hyatt Regency), and 2,300 hotel rooms.

History

ť See also: History of Louisville, Kentucky

Downtown Louisville is the oldest part of the city of Louisville, whose initial development was closely tied to the Ohio River. The largest early fort, Fort Nelson, was built in 1781 near what is today the corner of 7th and Main streets. Many early residents lived nearby after moving out of the forts by the mid-1780s, although little remains from of the earliest (mostly wood) structures.
   Early plans of the city, such as William Pope's original plan in 1783, show a simple grid on an east/west axis along the river. The earliest streets, Main, Market and Jefferson retain their original names from the plan, while the smaller Green Street is now known as Liberty. Main Street was the city's initial commercial hub for nearly a century.
   By 1830 Louisville passed Lexington as Kentucky's largest city, with a population over 10,000. The steamboat era saw the opening of the Louisville and Portland Canal, and local commerce picked up further with the founding of banks and manufacturing. Most of Louisville's population was packed into downtown, which by this time stretched as far south as Prather Street (later renamed Broadway). Many still-remaining buildings reveal what the area was like at this time, with narrow, two to four-story buildings packing the streets.
   The area and the city continued to grow during the railroad era. However, the increased mobility of early trolleys, as well as the shear number and diversity of people moving to Louisville, saw a shift in focus as areas like Phoenix Hill, Russell and what is now Old Louisville began to be built on the edges of downtown, particularly after the city annexed those areas in 1868. Railroads lead to a diminished role for the river in transportation, further reducing the importance of downtown in favor of areas on what was then the edge of the city, along rail lines.
   In 1890 the first skyscraper, the ten-story Columbia Building, was completed at 4th and Main. The development of three large suburban parks and the electrified streetcar lead to the first true movement to the suburbs at this time. Some of downtown's business and industry followed people toward these areas. But by the 1920s the commercial center of Louisville was still nearby, at 4th and Broadway, dubbed the "magic corner" by the Herald Post. The riverfront area of downtown was still being actively improved, such as with the building of what is now George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge across the Ohio at Second Street in 1929.
   After World War II, suburbanization increased and downtown began to decline as interstate highways further reduced the importance of its central location. Since the 1970s, downtown has been the subject of both urban renewal and historic preservation efforts. While many new buildings have been built, it has sometimes been at the expense of older landmarks, such as the Tyler Block.
   Many buildings set totally or mostly vacant at this time, and some became dilapidated to the point where they burned down or had to be razed. Other issues included a former theater district on Jefferson Street that had became dubbed the "porno district" by the 1980s. The businesses there were seen by the city as an eyesore since they were so close to the convention center, and most were demolished or burned down by the 1990s. A few adult book stores and bars remained in the general area as of 2007.
   From the late 1970s to early 1990s, nine new high rises over in height were built in downtown. Unlike the city's previous tallest buildings, which were all set along the Broadway corridor, these new buildings were set closer to the riverfront along Main and Market Streets.
   Since 2000, downtown has seen another major growth spurt, although this one not only includes new high rises, but also a large scale return of large scale residential and retail back to the city center. The completion of Louisville Slugger Field along with a mass expansion of the city's Waterfront Park, both completed in 1998, sparked new development along the eastern edge of downtown, with entire abandoned blocks rebuilt with new condominium units and shops. Several other major projects are expected to be complete by 2010, including the 22,000 seat Louisville waterfront arena at Second and Main Streets. Image:Columbia-building.jpg|The Columbia Building, Louisville's first skyscraper Image:The Brown Hotel.jpg|The Brown Hotel (built 1923) Image:Heyburn side.jpg|The Heyburn Building (built 1928)

Residential

Early residences outside of the forts, still mostly wood structures, were built along the modern street grid on early lots sold to settlers, but have all been demolished over time. What became the almost entirely office and parking-lot dominated downtown still had many solidly single family residential blocks on its fringes up until the early 20th century. Streets near Broadway, such as Chestnut, were lined with large mansions of the owners of businesses on Main and Market streets.
   Though these houses were built of brick and other longer-lasting materials, few survived urban renewal efforts of the mid-20th century, an exception being the Brennan House at 631 S. Fifth, which is operated as a historic property with daily tours.
   By the late 20th century, downtown Louisville had acquired a reputation as a place to work and visit during the week but which shuts down evenings and weekends. The first changes to this were the conversion of old warehouse and factory space to loft apartments. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, new developments of luxury condominiums such as the 22-story Waterfront Park Place, and the Fleur de Lis on Main indicated increasing residential interest in Downtown Louisville. In 2007 Downtown Louisville became Jefferson County's tenth Multiple Listing Service zone.
   Housing units available downtown are expected to double between 2005 and 2010, from 1,800 to nearly 4,000, after increasing by only 900 units from 1985 to 2005. This is both a result of new condominium construction and efforts to convert existing buildings into mixed usage, such as the $20 million redevelopment of the historic eight-story Henry Clay building at Third and Chestnut streets into a mix of residential, restaurant, retail and event space. The redevelopment also includes property that extends east to Fourth Street, which will become a public piazza, and the historic Wright-Taylor building, a two-story, structure that faces Fourth Street and is located behind the Henry Clay, and is now an upscale restaurant that occupies the entire Wright-Taylor building.

Future plans

Two new high-rise developments planned for downtown are the glass and steel $50 million shopping and office complex Iron Quarter, and the concrete and vast expanses of glass, mixed-use $25 million ZirMed Gateway Towers, both announced in 2007. There are several other major projects in the next few years that could have a dramatic effect on downtown, including the construction of the three-tower Louisville Museum Plaza, the conversion of the former Big Four railroad bridge into the longest pedestrian only bridge in the U.S., the construction of a wharf along the Riverwalk Trail, a new waterfront arena, and the reconstruction of Spaghetti Junction (the intersection of I-65, I-64 and I-71) along with the addition of a new bridge for northbound I-65 traffic.
On August 19 2007, city leaders and the Cordish Company, developers of 4th Street Live!, announced Center City, a $250 million plan to develop 23 acres along Muhammad Ali Boulevard, including new housing, restaurants, a cinema and a boutique hotel. An estimated of floor space being created, including a 15-story structure. As the plan would require $130 million in local and state tax rebates for Cordish, it requires approval from the Louisville Metro Council and Kentucky General Assembly. If approved, officials said construction would be complete by 2010.

Attractions

Many attractions are located in Downtown Louisville.

"Museum Row" in the West Main District

East Market, featuring a row of art galleries, prominently featured in the monthly First Friday Trolley Hop

Belle of Louisville

Early Times Distillery

Fort Nelson Park

Fourth Street Live

Kentucky Center

Louisville Extreme Park

Louisville Slugger Field (Home of the Louisville Bats)

Waterfront Park

Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere Image:Louisville Fourthstreetlive.jpg|Fourth Street Live! Image:Thunder over louisville 2006.jpg|Thunder Over Louisville Image:LouisvilleSluggerMusem.jpg|Louisville Slugger Bat factory and museum Image:Louisville Skatepark-night-2002.jpg|Louisville Extreme Park Image:AliCenter.jpg|Muhammad Ali Center Image:FIHM.jpg|Frazier International History Museum Image:LouisvilleGlassworks.jpg|Louisville Glassworks Museum and Artists Studio

Images

Modern high rises

Image:louisville sistercities.jpg|The distances to each of Louisville's sister cities are represented on this lightpost downtown. Image:LouisvilleSkyscrapers.jpg|Many of Louisville's skyscrapers, from left: The Humana Building, National City Tower, E.ON U.S. Center (distant) and AEGON Center Image:Aegoncenterlou.jpg|AEGON Center, Kentucky's tallest building since 1993 Image:Picture 1680.jpg|The 800, Louisville's first modern high rise Image:PNC_Plaza.JPG|PNC Tower Image:Twintowerslou.jpg|Waterfront Plaza I & II Image:Loumaindev1.jpg‎|Top Left: Waterfront Park Place (2004), Right: Preston Pointe (2004) Image:Jewishopstowers.jpg|Jewish Hospital Medical Towers Image:Loudwntmotels.jpg|The Marriott and Hyatt Regency Hotels in Dowtown Image:Ulmedconstr.jpg|Construction on medical research building at Hancock and Liberty Streets Image:Newmotellou.jpg|Construction on new hotel complex, Preston and Liberty Streets

Tallest buildings in Downtown Louisville

Rank	Building	Height	Floors	Year completed/projected	Status
1st	Museum Plaza	703 ft (214 m)	62	2010	Under Construction
2nd	AEGON Center (Capital Holding Center, Providian Center)	549 ft (167 m)	35	1993	Completed
3rd	National City Tower (First National Tower)	512 ft (156 m)	40	1972	Completed
4th	PNC Plaza (Citizens Fidelity Plaza)	420 ft (128 m)	30	1971	Completed
5th	Humana Building	417 ft (127 m)	27	1984	Completed
6th	Waterfront Park Place	364 ft (111 m)	22	2004	Completed
7th	Meidinger Tower (South Tower)	363 ft (110.6 m)	26	1982	Completed
8th	Brown & Williamson Tower (North Tower, Oxford Tower)	363 ft (110.6 m)	26	1982	Completed
9th	Waterfront Plaza I	340 ft (103.6 m)	25	1991	Completed
10th	Waterfront Plaza II	340 ft (103.6 m)	25	1993	Completed
11th	E.ON U.S. Center (One Corporate Plaza, LG&E Building)	328 ft (100 m)	23	1989	Completed
12th	Galt House (West Tower)	325 ft (99 m)	25	1972	Completed
13th	Galt House (East Tower)	322	20	1985	Completed
14th	BB&T Building (Louisville Trust Building, United Kentucky Building, Liberty Bank Building)	312 ft (95 m)	24	1972	Completed
15th	The 800 Apartments	290 ft (m)	29	1963	Completed
16th	Avenue Plaza Apartments Metro Housing Authority		18	1974	Completed
16th	Heyburn Building	250 ft (76 m)	17	1928	Completed
17th	J O Blanton House U.S. Housing and Urban Development		20	1972	Completed
18th	Hyatt Regency	246 ft (75 m)	18	1978	Completed
19th	Dosker Manor East and West Metro Housing Authority		18	1968	Completed
20th	Kentucky Home Life Building	235 ft (71.6 m)	19	1913	Completed
21st	Brown Hotel		16	1923	Completed
22nd	Kentucky Towers	202 ft (61.5 m)	18	1924	Completed
23rd	Starks Building	202 ft (61.5 m)	14	1913	Completed
24th	River View Place	201 ft (61 m)	19	1925
25th	Marriott Louisville	200 ft (61 m)	17	2005	Completed

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