SHE WON'T GO!
Down goes the whole block.
Here we come, Cock and Balls Tower.
“This is the strangest deal we’ve encountered in the 35 years I’ve been doing this.”
You mean, because people finally realize that all of your projects are disasters that suck all of the life out of downtown and are standing up against another one of your failures? Because the people of Lexington refuse to have their tax dollars subsidize your failure?
Mr. Webb, your CentrePointe project is going down tomorrow.
Ask off work. Call in sick. Take a long lunch. Tell all of your friends.
June 25th at 1:30 PM. LFUCG Council Chamber. The Courthouse Area Design Review Board hearing.
This is our big opportunity to show up and voice our oppostion to the CentrePointe project in its current form.
The Webbs will present their case to demolish the entire block. Let’s make sure that the Council and all city officials know that this aggression will not stand, man.
The last aborted hearing was jam packed in the chamber, with 70 people in the overflow room. Let’s have an even larger crowd for this one. Believe me, it MATTERS. Get there early to make sure you have a good seat.
Here’s Hayward Wilkirson from Preserve Lexington laying it all out for you:
Three months ago, hundreds of citizens came together at the historic Kentucky Theatre because we love Lexington. We came together because we value all of those things that make this small city in the heart of the Bluegrass unique. We came together because we want the rebirth of downtown to continue.
We are reasonable people. We believe in progress. We believe in redevelopment. But we know that redevelopment is not built on the ruins of those things that make Lexington not just anyplace, but our place. We know that progress will not flow from the destruction of our history, architecture and locally grown culture.
Three months ago, looking into the future, we saw two paths. One was the way of compromise. The other was the way of opposition.
We have tried to forge a path of conversation and compromise. We thought, perhaps naívely, that this was a path that all would follow.
It seemed so simple really.
We all want significant redevelopment of a block that is at the heart of our city.
We all know that developments around the country have successfully integrated new construction and historic preservation.
We know that the staff of the Courthouse Area Design Review Board and the architectural historians of the Kentucky Heritage Council have determined that many of the buildings on the block are architecturally significant.
We know that preservation is not just an aesthetic end, but an economic engine that creates jobs, draws investment and lures locals and visitors alike to city centers around the world.
We now know, according to the CentrePointe team’s own engineering study, that the cost to renovate the Mad Hatter, The Dame and Buster’s buildings does not exceed the cost of new construction.
We know that this cost can be reduced a further 30 percent by taking advantage of state and federal tax credits available for adaptive reuse projects.
And we know that a development that relies on $70 million in tax incentives merits genuine public participation.
It seemed so clear that we were confident of reaching meaningful compromise.
Had the city-funded Downtown Development Authority sought community input over the last two years, maybe we would not now find ourselves at this juncture.
Had the developer not unilaterally suspended discussions with us after only two meetings, maybe we would be able to report some progress.
Had The Webb Cos. delivered on its promise of a public meeting, maybe compromise would have been possible.
But all of this is speculation.
The reality is that on Wednesday, the developer will present a project to the Courthouse Area Design Review Board that fails to address the very real concerns expressed by Lexingtonians over these last few months.
We will be there. And we will oppose the developer’s application with the same energy with which we sought compromise.
We have studied the rules and the developer’s application thoroughly, and we believe that the board must, in following the ordinance established by the Urban County Council nearly a decade ago, deny the application.
And then, we hope, we will find in the developer a partner more willing to work together for genuine and meaningful compromise.
I wrote of my final night at Busters last week, and plenty of folks documented its official end on Friday, and The Dame’s end yesterday. Here’s a run down on all the posts about it:
The Herald-Leader, with a very sad audio slideshow.
Culture Soak says goodbye to The Dame.
The one and only Walter Tunis eulogizes The Dame and Busters (what in the hell is Walter going to write about now???)
Patchdrury says goodbye to The Dame.
A really really great eulogy for the Dame by Tunis, giving credit to Cole Skinner, the orignal manager/owner who was more responsible for the success of The Dame than anyone. (and the Super Kung-Fu Motorcycle Monkey, of course)
Eblen gives a good history of the block, and what would be lost if its demolished.
Sinister Laundry on Busters.
It’s a shame that Lexington’s “city fathers” are such incompetent idiots, no?
I spent Friday night on the corner of Main and Upper in Lexington, and soaked in the wonderful scene that happens there every weekend night.
For the last time. (or at least for quite some time)
Busters is closing Friday (I’m out of town) and The Dame is closing a week later.
But don’t worry. Those buildings are nothing but eyesores. And those people don’t matter. And as Dudely Webb said, “there’s nothing of any value at all on that block.”
To me and many others around my age in Lexington, this block is Lexington. And if the Webbs get their way and demolish it, it won’t be the same. If they can’t get the demolition permits and hold the vacant block hostage for years, it won’t be the same.
I know loads of people from their mid-30′ to 20′s who are smart, artistic and “gainfully employed” that are packing up and heading out to cities where their local officials and “city fathers” actually care about them more than people who attend convention centers for a night or two… or billionaire sheiks who want somewhere luxurious to stay in when they’re in town.
Jim Gray said the same things at his fiery speech at the Preserve Lexington fundraiser Friday night. It a shame Mayor Jim Newberry just doesn’t get it.
But the fight isn’t over. And as Gray said Friday night “We’ve been playing nice”… but no more Mr. Nice Guy. The Webbs have chosen the dishonest strategy of saying that they are open to hearing the city’s concerns and suggestions and responding to them, and then refusing to even have a dialogue with Preserve Lexington. If the Webbs choose to go down this road… fine. But they should just know that they will not get their C&B Tower. It Will. Not. Happen.
You can compromise, or you can get nothing.
Anyway, as I spent my last night in Busters and reflected on my 10 long years of good times there, I looked at the ‘ol buffalo head at the back of the pool hall and wondered if it might end up covered in pig blood and under Dudley Webb’s bedsheets one morning.
Not that I condone such a thing. Certainly not. I just wondered.
I’ll see you there!!!
Join us on Friday, June 13 for a rally and fundraiser to support Preserve Lexington’s efforts to achieve a smarter alternative to the CentrePointe development.BlockAid begins at 5:30 pm at The Limestone Club, 213 N. Limestone. Enjoy Barbeque and Brews, and music by The Swells and Between Clark and Hilldale.Take part in a silent auction of vintage Dame concert posters created by the Cricket Press, and a silent auction of the special commemorative BlockAid poster you see above (created by local artist John Lackey).At 9:30 walk on down to Busters for a special concert by The Moxies.Tickets are $20 for the Limestone Club, $5 for Busters, or $25 for both venues.$20 and $25 tickets may be purchased ahead of time at preservelexington.org .In less than a month, the Courthouse Area Design Review Board will review the revised Centre Pointe application.Now, more than ever, we need your moral and financial support.
Why would we want something like this, when we could have a giant tower full of empty luxury condos and a clean hotel lobby with fancy chandeliers. And maybe a big escalator!!! Thanks Dudley, don’t let those “Lexington citizens” get in the way of your big project!
P.S.- Dudley, I hope you continue to be the public face and media representative of your project. You are soooo good at PR, and such a dignified and sympathetic figure. Lexington loves you!
Help Preserve Lexington save downtown Lexington! They’re doing great work, and need some $$$ to keep up with the Webbs shenanigans.
Join us on Friday, June 13 for a rally and fundraiser to support Preserve Lexington’s efforts to achieve a smarter alternative to the CentrePointe development.Block-Aid begins at 5:30 pm at The Limestone Club, 213 N. Limestone. Enjoy Barbeque and Brews, and music by The Swells and Between Clark and Hilldale.Take part in a silent auction of vintage Dame concert posters created by the Cricket Press, and a silent auction of the special commemorative Block-Aid poster you see above (created by local artist John Lackey).At 9:30 walk on down to Busters for a special concert by The Moxies.Tickets are $20 for the Limestone Club, $5 for Busters, or $25 for both venues.$20 and $25 tickets may be purchased ahead of time at preservelexington.org .In less than a month, the Courthouse Area Design Review Board will review the revised Centre Pointe application.Now, more than ever, we need your moral and financial support.
First, our state was ranked #1 in prison population (in the #1 country in the world)
But then Lexington took over:
#1 city in allergies
#1 city in sexual frustration
and now:
#1 city in carbon footprint
Yes, we’re a bunch of sneezy, celibate, dirty losers… come visit us! (personally, I blame the suburbs… those of us in the campus/downtown area have our shit together)
What’s next? #1 in gout cases? SUV’s per capita? Closeted Republicans with porn star mustaches?
It was an odd night at my old Alma Mater last night, as an almost capacity gymnasium witnessed a top notch political performance by America’s First Couple, Bill and Hillary Clinton. I’m assuming some of the national media might have been thinking this, but it was fitting that Transylvania was the destination for this traveling roadshow of the walking dead.
The crowd warmed up for the show with its typical scenery for a Hillary event: old ladies dancing to the music. And I must note for a speech given at a University in which the semester is still going, young people were definitely a minority in the audience. One Ron Paul sign. One Jonathan Rodgers sign (h/t Schankula). Signs with “Hillary: the Smart Choice”. The guy from MSNBC that’s always on Olbermann. A red head that I swear was Maureen Doud, though I can’t possibly imagine her stopping in fly-over country.
It all got started with a speaker whom I never caught the name of. And right off the bat, she said that Hillary “is the only candidate that can win” the general election.
Ugh.
She introduced Martha Lane Collins, who I believe hadn’t endorsed yet, but she certainly did so here. Again with the “we want a person that can win in November” crap. “Hillary won all the debates” and “debates are hard”.
Collins said “we’re here for what?”, and the crowd screamed “Hillary!”. Becker astutely noted that at an Obama rally, the crowd would have screamed “Change!”. An excellent little microcosm of the campaign, I think.
“Hillary is not a quitter”. (Yes, neither is Bush, unfortuantely). And Hillary is of course responsible for all of the peace and prosperity of the 90′s. Except for NAFTA of course.
Next came everybody’s favorite corrupt crook, Jerry Lundergan. For some reason, I never really picked up the Huey Long analogy for Jerry. A good ole KY stump speech.
“Thanks for helping ME rebuild the Kentucky Democratic Party”. Wow. “But I didn’t do it alone”. You don’t say, Jerry?
Bill and Hillary came into to raise money to pay off the huge debt I was responsible for, and now it’s time to “repay the debt” to the Clintons. Well, considering the Clinton campaign owes about $20 million around the country, I’d say they could use a little help in that area.
Lundergan talks about “KY Family Values”. Cringe. Says that Hillary will bring home the troops “within 60 days”. What?!? 60 days?
“Some want to stop this election and prevent you from voting!!!” Oh, gawd. And who would those people be, Jerry? Seriously.
Out comes the Big Dog, to huge cheers. Oh. My. Gawd. His face is Red. No, I mean like a giant glowing red orb. It looks like the warning light before a train passes.
Claims that Hillary is really winning, because she’s being outspent. (Not sure of the logic, but it was interesting). Made the FALSE claim that Hilary was the only one beating McCain in the polls. Hillary’s up in Arkansas, therefore we have to have her.
Superdelegate Jenifer Moore introduced.
The man’s got charm. He just has IT, always has, always will. Women swooned, but no fainting.
Out comes Hillary. Her voice is still almost gone, but she’s still fighting.
I’m responsible for the 90′s good stuff, we must elect a Dem president, “Ready on Day one” crap.
Jennifer Moore splits early. Must be bored.
Coal is great, yay coal! Go after OPEC bastards. Gas tax holiday boondoggle. Get the 2 oil men out of the White House. Stem Cell research….
Then she closes going in the implied gutter. “We need solutions more than speeches, we need results more than rhetoric”.
The speech ends, and Bill and HillRod go down to shake hands. Bill gets swarmed more Hillary. I was told by one person down on the floor that it was a mass of older women and gay men trying to get a piece of Hillary, everybody else for Bill.
All in all, an excellent night for witnessing both political charm and savvy. And widespread delusion. But no matter how hard they clapped for the Clintons, Tinkerbell is still fucking dead.
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