Louisville After the
Bombings ?
Conclusion
We almost didn't bring the subject up. It's a little like beating the proverbial dead horse. Except the horse isn't quite dead yet.
The outlook for the preservation of the best of what's left of the the distinctive old Louisville of a century ago is at best uncertain. We cannot help but heap praise and gratitude on Bill Collins for his efforts in recently saving Louisville's Male High School as well as the developers and investors who revived the old Elks Lodge/Henry Clay Hotel (YWCA) and the surrounding area despite formidable bureaucratic hurdles from a segment of the city government. In the case of Male High, the Jefferson County School board turned a deaf ear to community outrage at the proposed destruction of the marvelous building visible from Interstate-65 just south of downtown. They had intended to build a stadium for another school located miles away. Mr. Collins, a local business man, stepped in and was instrumental in acquiring another site for the stadium (a School Board condition), and purchased the old high school building. Benefactors like this is what made Louisville a proud city a hundred years ago. It is encouraging to know that a few of the old type are still around.
Nevertheless, in the past few years, fine mansions on Fourth Street were demolished for the expansion (mostly parking) of Spalding University. The Milner Hotel in downtown Louisville (dilapidated but certainly with a great deal of character lacking in its replacement) was razed for the convention center expansion. There is some concern over the fate of one of the rare remaining downtown mansions on Third Street which was recently vacated by the Louisville Water Company. Most of the Iron Quarter block looks almost surely destined for the wrecking ball. Petty demands from some of the city alderman delayed by years the hopes of finding an aesthetic and people friendly (pedestrian) solution for the Big Four, the oldest railway bridge across the Ohio River. A noteworthy gleam if hope came with a new mayor (1999-2003), Dave Armstrong, who showed interest, care and initiative in addressing some of these issues. His tenure was too short.
We do not argue against the assertion that a city is more than just its buildings. Yet the buildings are the stage and the all important backdrop. They are what binds us as a community together in our memories and experiences and heritage. They give us the sense of place, of unique distinction and of home. If cities such as Paris or Rome or Vienna had the same development ideas as Louisville and scores of other American cities, where would they be? An expressway along the Danube? The Tuilleries as a parking lot? Perhaps a convention center on the Capitoline. To be sure, renewal and evolution must take place. Wholesale clear-cutting without regard to "place" is never the answer. Is it too much to ask that the "improvements" be truly an improvement?
¤
Louisville After the Bombings?
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The Old
Post Office |
The 2nd
Presbyterian Church
|
The
Warren Memorial Church |
The
National Theater
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The
Masonic Temple |
The
Rialto |
The
Columbia Building
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The
Washington Building |
Clear-cutting
the city |
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ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST
After nearly complete destruction in February 1945 at the end of World War II, see what
can
be done to rebuild a historic city center.
Click here to see
absolutely amazing photos of the ongoing reconstruction of Dresden
(...reconstruction begun in 2002, and what has Louisville done in that time??)
Dresden 1980s
<<nearly same view>>
Dresden 2000s
(By the way, although begun as a public project to restore a
world heritage site,
the reconstruction of Dresden has now gotten far enough along that the real
estate values have skyrocketed.
Remaining un-reconstructed parcels are going for around $6000 per square yard
just for the right to rebuild
historically faithful reproductions of former buildings ...including a
palace...on the site.
check this out)
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