LexRides

[catamount]

Posting this for theend - he has yet to sign up on the forum!
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sorry to add such a long babble thing but i think its relevant to all you bikers who love downtown...
Not to be alarmist or anything, but be alarmed. In Wednesdays front page of the Herald Leader was a story on the Mad Hatter's selling of his building to the "development" group who now owns everthing in that block between Main, Upper, and Vine (except for the Triple Crown building) - this includes our hubs of the Dame, Busters, and Mia's. The development group includes Joe Rosenberg and those notorious Webb brothers who brought us that fine architectural gem known to many as the Big Blue Dick (5th Third bank).

I fear the inevitable. What we know, love and frequent as our second homes is going to be gone one way or another... HERE'S what I think what will happen: These guys have spent a shitload of time and money buying and planning to do something with this block. A 5-star hotel (equestrian games!)is the main rumored infill, which would mean dozing the whole block. Of course this does have to get approval from the city first (fortunately our vice major Jim Gray is a "good guy" who understands well that what makes a city great is our historic fabric and a vibrant, diverse night culture). But think about it, these guys are crafty and not without "inside" pull - they would not invest so much in this property to keep it the way it is. So its either tear down the historic block or redevelop it through virtual gutting of buildings, and leasing them to big, corporate franchises - I have heard Panera Bread Co. wants to be in there (EAT at Sunrise Bakery!). All this is SAD as hell. Where else can The Dame, Busters, and Mia's go that would be affordable and good? Keep in mind that these places draw off each other.

Now, I dont know exactly what to do, but I suppose a ton of letters to the city, the papers, and the Historic Preservation office would be a start. I for one dont want a bunch of spaces replacing our beloved bars that look like the Big Blue Martini...if all else fails...we can barricade ourselves in! I think with enough stink, we could stop this. After all, this city has torn down way too much the last 50 years and we are finally at a time where downtown is thriving again - no thanks to the Webb bros., but all thanks to us stakeholders who take stock in our cool old buildings and those who run them!!
_________________
"The path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked!” - Utah Phillips

[elzie5000]

You're better at cutting and pasting than he is.

[brokebike]

Here's the article:

http://www.kentucky.com/179/story/244152.html

this could be the nail in the coffin, it seems... more so than any other time during all the speculation that has surrounded this.

time to make yourself loud if you love downtown... otherwise, we're going to be stuck with another empty hotel, a Panera, and other shitty bars that look just like Harvey's.

[elzie5000]

Why not channel that energy into going to places like Al's, Old Tarr and Icehouse instead?

Take your entertainment dollars to places that support the community. You're not going to be able to prevent a private property owner from selling to anyone who wants to buy.

Let the yuppies have Main. Manchester is the future.

[brokebike]

[elzie5000]

Hell if I know. (about manchester ownership)

All I'm saying is that The Dame et al aren't the buildings they are in, and there is no reason that a culture/entertainment/non-sucktacular businesses district has to be on Main Street. It could just as easily be on Manchester, or 5th, or any number of other places.

The more important thing, I think, and this gets into what you are talking about with changes in culture that go way beyond this specific issue, is that Lexington on the whole doesn't have the population density to support something like a Portland scene or even an equivalent to Bardstown Rd in Louisville.

We are a tiny minority in a diehard McMansion town.

[jkizzle]

ok so here

lexington actually has one of the highest restaurant/bar rates per capita - though id bet alot of those are little delis outside the new circle loop or chains at hamburg and the mall. we have a population (with cash) that can support a takeout, eatout, drinkout town.

the manchester area is owned primarily by one guy who owns several of the buildings. he is however interested in making it more of an arts district. i feel like hes doing a great job and invite it. he seems to be really supportive of the local community, sponsoring art shows and exhibitions, our beaux arts ball, large parties etc. so far, he seems awesome.

lexington actually does have the community to support a bardstown road type place. thats the whole point of the collegetown district and the project i was working on with the school of architecture at uk and the downtown development corporation. the studies show that limestone has immense potential.

lets face it. the dame is not a very historical building. its maybe 40 years old and has pretty much been used for low rent bars. although i love busters and the dame, there is very little that can be done. there are simply no zoning ordinances for the most part on the main st corridor. its basically anything goes to an extent. luckily there is some good coming from it. harold tate has gotten tens of millions of dollars in RESIDENTIAL real estate downtown, ugly or not, that brings people with money and interest in urban lexington.

im not for a hotel, but that block is very underutilized. ideally, they build around whats there, but that financially makes no sense. neither does large scale retail - vic square is a flop. i know there is a big developer looking for a place to put a WELL MADE entertainment venue downtown (im guessing something similar in style but less glam than newport on the levee or 4th street in the ville).

lets just hope the webb companies break stride and dont put up a concrete box hotel or office building.

[elzie5000]

[alex]

what's missing in this conversation is that it takes time for a "scene" to develop on its own, and an attempt to create a "scene" is destined for failure. We could not just move everything somewhere else. it wouldn't work because those spaces developed, grew, over time - organically. Each one of those spaces is basically a person, or a few people, that create that space. If buster's closes, johnny will not move it, he'll just move on, do something else. And we'll be out a dive bar.

sure that block is "underutilized" but that's the reason those businesses survive. the block is owned by a slumlord who doesn't maintain the property and charges a minimum for rent. A place like buster's couldn't survive in a fancy building because it couldn't pay the rent.

This has happened to lexington before, and the downtown recovered but it took a long time. We will recover after the destruction of our scene, but it will be very sad for the next 5-10 years. and boring.

what barry is doing for manchester is great, and it could be our only alternative, but in the end he's there to make money. ten years from now we could have a thriving art scene down there and, if someone offered him the right price, it would be gone in an instant. That's where brian's thoughts about local ownership and local interest come in.

I think these people are bullshit, and the fuckheads that keep shoveling money into their coffins will eventually end this town. or at least the part we love about it. they don't give a shit. their ideal downtown would be ten million "luxury loft" units with connected parking structures and integrated drive-through starbucks. They all grab their cup of coffee on their way to work, which is 20 minutes into the suburbs. eventually downtown will be bleak and empty again - because there will be no more interesting people, no more interesting businesses, no more interesting events, no kids on bikes, no farmers markets, no nothing. No one will stay here because it will be boring. No UK student will ever consider actually LIVING in lexington. lexington is dead.

development is not fuckheads with money trying to rob other fuckheads out of a few more pennies
development is not luxury lofts and exclusive hotels built for one week [FEI world equestrian games!!!yeah!!!], only to be abandoned for the next 50 years [when it will be a slumlord dive bar again]

development is us, making cool things happen, and making this an interesting place to live. god help us.

[/novel]

[elzie5000]

Eventually, though, a 'scene' thrives on the failure of development, just like you said.

Its the circle of life....imagine the kick ass alleycats your grandkids could have in a rotting complex of what used to be luxury lofts and their connected parking structures. Or they could play bike polo on the abandoned grounds where the horse olympics were held back in the day.

Fuck it, I'm going to bed so I can parade my drunk ass tomorrow through the doomed streets of a deluded little town in front of clueless sheep on the sidewalk who can't comprehend next week, much less the next decade.

If they're lucky, I'll make regal robes from their skins and wear them on judgement day.

[brokebike]

As an artist, I'd love nothing more than to see a "thriving arts district" in Lexington. However, Manchester Street - whatever it becomes or doesn't become - is not going to be much of a remedy for anything culture-wise if there aren't enough places for people to hang out, and feel comfortable just being themselves at. I don't know about you guys, but unless it's Gallery Hop night, I don't regularly go hang out at a gallery, or in someone else's studio space on the weekends or evenings. Nor do I have the cash to buy art at the prices that most galleries in town are dependent upon to pay their overhead. Don't get me wrong... I'm not dissing anything about what is planned down there; in fact, I welcome it... I just don't think we should be holding our breath thinking that it may be the answer to a void that will be left with the removal of 3 simple establishments in the Main St. block. And even if an arts district brings tons of creative people into it, what are those artists going to do to blow off steam when they aren't working?

What I like to do is ride my bike downtown to places where I can meet up with my friends, wear whatever I want, have some cheap drinks, get some cheap food, and - if I want - stay there way longer than I probably should, but still feel completely at home with doing so. Ask yourself, how many places do we have like this in our downtown at this point in its history? Can you count them on one hand?

High-minded attitudes about all the fancy, cool, hip new things that could potentially be developed into a downtown lexington of the near future are all fine and good, but it is that hard-to-describe, yet very simple element found in places like Buster's, Mia's, Melodeon (RIP), Alfalfa, etc. that is the glue that will hold it all together in the end... and they are slowly being eliminated and gentrified.

We need places to hang out, have fun in, and be ourselves in (cue sappy 'Cheers' theme song).

[jkizzle]

sorry about the tone in my post if anyone took offence, i was coming off a good buzz/drunk and my girlfriend was wining because she wanted wingzone...

i think the reason there is a bike culture in lexington though is because of the general attitude of people.

people know their roots here are agrarian and not pollution bound, so they like the idea of a bike. the problem is most people here are pretty wealthy, so they dont care about alot of things like pollution at the same time, because they feel the money they have will protect them.

thats where we come in. we are the people who ride bikes everywhere, the people who piss off the same people who know they shouldnt be driving an suv because they cant hit 50 mph between stoplights with a bike in front of them, and frankly, we are the people half of their kids see and want to join.

im not worried about lexington. native lexingtonians dont know how good you have it here. go to cincinnati where its not healthy to go outside and breathe for half the summer, where the river is so unhealthy that people are hesitant about sitting on a boat on it, where the downtown is empty come 5:15pm where the only bikes you see are $3000 bikes sat on by doctors who heard about this guy lance and the people who cant afford a car and dont live near a bus stop.

the beauty of the bicycle in lexington is not about a bar, a venue, or an arts district - its that people embrace it whether they want to or not. the counter-culture or sub-culture or whatever you want to call it will survive because we love our bikes, we wont let this city go to hell, and there are still people willing to take the chance on lexington.


i guess the important things to note here are that even though alot of restaurants are failing, people are still trying. even though webbs bought up the block, there is actually very few people who want another hotel downtown instead of local bars, and that there are developers out there interested in developing a different idea in lexington - manchester street. and about that, while i do think he wants to make money out of it, i dont think that he will ever completely sell out the area. if he was going to do that, we would have seen another lorilard or south hill station lofts go up (dont get me wrong, i think these are good projects that bring people closer to downtown or at least an urban context for living in). hes letting alot of places hold events there for FREE on his dime for electric etc. while we cant stop the webbs, maybe we can completely win this guy over while he is still wanting to play in our field?

sorry if that doesnt make any sense. im groggy.

[theend]

FYI: Every single one of the buildings in the said block is technically "historic" and elegible to be on the national register - any building over 50 years is elegible - whether or not they are significant or not is another matter, but those are the rules. Those buildings on average are between 75 and 100 years old AND rosenbergs pawn shop (c.1824) is the oldest extent commercial building in lexington.

I think everyone has made some great points here. my own view is that old buildings are the most interesting, full of character, cozy, soulful, etc. particularly in our town. they are also the spaces with the most potential for adaptive re-use where the old and modern can mix to create really beautiful spaces. there used to be an old joke that lexington was always 10 to 15 years behind the rest of the country, or at least the most progressive cities. i think in many ways this is sadly still true. all these motions to tear down this historic fabric is super short-sited, yet not surprising.

I would invite ya'll to go to the Kentucky Room in the library to check out any of the picture books of historic Lexington before Urban Renewal programs of the 50's 60's and 70's razed downtown - its fucking mind blowing really how cool d-town was. if we had even half of what was torn down left...well, we wouldnt be having this conversation. think of what makes all the places you have been to around the globe and what makes them cool - its almost always the historic buildings that are there and how they are used.

so, keep whats left, fix it and use it! or lose it! Then, infill the empty spaces with inspiring modern architecture that is sustainable, long-sited and affordable to um we the people. this is key to our identity and our happiness as a community..

p.s. i have known barry mcneese (manchester developer) for a long time. sure he's savy, but one of the smartest people i've known - he's one of the good guys and i cant wait to see how that whole area develops (town branch trail).

[charlenemingus]

So I haven't read all of the comments people have made but I thought I would chime in and provide a link to the Preserve Lexington website. They have a lot of really interesting information on the historical significance of the buildings on the block and old pictures of the buildings before some of them were given modern (and ugly) facades.

http://www.preservelexington.org/theblock.html

[catamount]

I haven't looked at old Lex photos in some time - it is amazing and sad to see.



A two way main street, trolleys and people - lots of people downtown...
_________________
"The path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked!” - Utah Phillips