MY SOAPBOX MOMENT
March 10, 2008
Mine was the lead letter to the editor in Sunday’s Lexington (Kentucky) Herald- Leader. The issue is the possible razing of the Main-Upper-Vine-Limestone block, which has become a wonderful collection of small, local, independent entertainment venues such as The Dame (music club), Mia’s Restaurant & Bar, and Buster’s Bar, to make way for a 40-storey hotel complex which will also require displacing the farmers market and pilfering space from a well-used and loved park across the street for a garage.
One thing I forgot to mention (deride) in the letter is the name that the developers have proposed for this structure: CentrePointe. Isn’t that a perfectly typical example of developers’ nomenclature?
Here’s my letter (headline theirs):
SHAMEFUL DEVELOPMENT CAN BE STOPPED
The impressive edifice unveiled in in the March 5 Herald-Leader does little to answer a basic question: Why is Lexington messing with a good thing?
The block where CentrePointe would be placed already works as an original and local conglomeration of small businesses. Chambers of commerce rack their brains to create such a district of unique dining and entertainment venues within a historic context and usually fail where this one succeeds brilliantly.
Lexington’s past vertical ambitions destroyed the street life of whole sections of downtown and made for sketchy places to walk at night.
It remains uncertain what imperative is served by this dream. The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will come and go in a blink. What long-term need does a 40-story hotel complex satisfy?
Do not doubt that this will largely be funded by tax abatements that generations of schoolchildren will pay for.
Local leaders have expressed an eagerness to find alternate locations for the displaced businesses. That they think these small concerns can be uprooted and replanted and still thrive shows a profound lack of appreciation for the power of neighborhoods, context and smallness.
Here’s hoping the Courthouse Area Design Review Board hears from many Lexingtonians who are tired of trading small and unique for big and predictable. May the board feel empowered by the citizens it serves to halt this looming shame.
James Spragens
Lebanon
March 13, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Do you even go downtown? Buster’s is a dump, Mia’s was decent but is in serious need of repair and cleaning. Half of that block is a parking lot and prior to that was an abandoned building. Phoenix park is heavily used as a sleeping area for homeless people. If you want the image of our city to be dirty and run down then I suppose we should not build this or any building downtown. This might not be the best building for downtown Lexington but it certainly is much better then what is there.
March 13, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Obviously, I don’t agree. Yes, I do go downtown. I’ll take a little urban-seedy over suburban-sterile any day.
As for the parking lots, did you know that one of the hotel project’s developers is the one who knocked down the buildings to create them?
I agree that there could be some rehab work due on those buildings. Is your answer to that to raze them?
Yes, Phoenix Park is famously used by the homeless. Also famous is the lack of safety in many homeless shelters which is why many do not feel safe there. Neither you nor I have come up with another place for them to hang out. Let’s keep in mind, it’s not a crime to be so poor you don’t have a home.
I think you might feel more at home in Louisville which boasts 4th Street Live, a cheesy, chain restaurant/club haven. There is always plenty of capital at hand to fix up buildings if it’s a national chain like TGI Fridays or Hard Rock Cafe coming to town. But, the Mia’s and Buster’s of the world aren’t so flush.
April 8, 2008 at 5:25 am
I agree with Daniel, something needs to change downtown. There is going to be controversy over any new development, as no project can satisfy every single person’s desires of what they would like to see happen. Whether CentrePointe is built, or something else entirely, I feel it will be a great change for downtown Lexington.
May 31, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I can’t wait for the World Equestrian Games. We’re getting ready for it here in Lexington, KY. I’ve just published a book about horses and horse farms in this area of the world, Horse Farms & Horse Tales of the Bluegrass.