As Louisville’s city officials continue to prepare for the downtown Omni development, it came to light that the current contract requires the delivery of a cleared site when the hand-off of the land occurs this winter. After the demolitions in May, this leave three structures in limbo – two buildings that made up an office complex for the Louisville Water Company in the first half of the 20th century and have sat vacant for many years, and a currently-occupied historic building used as office space for the city parking authority.

The Water Company Buildings were the subject of press conference held by Mayor Greg Fischer, where he declared city funds would be made available for the reuse and relocation of the structures. He called for public support in finding a solution, preferably a public or private site within 6-7 blocks of the current location. Metro placed a 30-day deadline on finding a solution.

In response to this call, the Green Lab and local partners gathered architects, developers, real estate and finance experts, preservationists, and local stakeholders together to participate in a professionally-guided design charrette. This process, a tool often deployed in planning and architecture, brings together stakeholders and professionals to solve a specific problem through team workshopping. On June 18, over 40 people came together to work through the obstacles to reusing the oldest of the two Water Company Buildings.

Five teams developed designs for reuse and relocation of the building – four groups developed plans for moving the structure to sites within the Mayor’s 6-7 block radius and one group focused on how the Omni development might be able to incorporate the structure. Each group delivered a feasible proposal with potential development partners, initial designs, and baseline cost analysis.

An open house was held at the end of the day to display the initial sketches, which was attended by local media outlets, representatives from Louisville Metro, and other interested residents. An initial report was delivered that weekend to the Fischer administration, to meet the original 30-day deadline for a proposed solution. As of July 13, the Green Lab had not heard from the city as to their interest in any initial design idea.

A final report will be compiled and publicized within the month. Preservation Green Lab will continue to work with Louisville Metro on finding the right solution, including exploration of these five ideas. Hopefully the day’s events will be a tool that Metro can continue to use to tackle development obstacles and opportunities – bringing Louisville onto the national stage of cities working closely with their residents to develop mutually beneficial solutions.