Beechmont Neighborhood Association

Butchertown seeks local historic designation

Another local designation district for protection

Local/Regional » Neighborhoods » News Item Wednesday, July 3, 2002

Preservation district debated in Butchertown
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By Martha Elson
melson@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

A proposal to designate Butchertown a local preservation district -- in part to protect it from the after-effects of the Ohio River Bridges Project -- has been challenged by some business owners and others who are concerned about the development rules it would impose.

Supporters, however, are adamant about the benefits. ''I don't think there's a single objection . . . we can't solve,'' said Jim Segrest, president of the Butchertown Neighborhood Association, which submitted a petition with 252 signatures requesting the designation.

Butchertown would become the sixth designated district in Louisville, joining West Main Street, Parkland business, Old Louisville, Cherokee Triangle and Limerick.

In general, the designation means that exterior changes to properties, new construction and requests for demolition must be reviewed by the Louisville Historic Landmarks & Preservation Districts Commission. However, each district is governed by specific guidelines developed with input from property owners -- but only after the designation is in place.

That means there are still questions and concerns about the plan's effect on Butchertown.

''It's hard to be supportive if we don't know what the guidelines are going to be,'' said David Brooks, chairman of Stock Yard Bank & Trust Co., at a recent public hearing held by the Landmarks & Preservation Districts Commission. ''There are a lot of fine structures that need to be preserved. But it has to be done in a very creative way.''

Because of such concerns, the June 19 hearing on the designation, held at Grace Immanuel United Church of Christ, 1612 Story Ave., will be continued Sept. 18. In the interim, three representatives each from the neighborhood association and the Butchertown Business Association will form a committee to work with commission staff members to draft advisory guidelines for the district. A separate public hearing would be held on that draft.

At a meeting last week, the neighborhood association appointed Kelly Grauman, past president of the association; Ann Hassett, former executive director of the Landmarks Commission; and association treasurer Hoyt Bleakley. The business association was expected to appoint representatives yesterday (past Neighborhoods' deadline).

Official legal guidelines would be developed later, if the designation is approved by the commission and ratified by the Board of Aldermen, said Charles Raith, the city's urban design administrator.

The commission's usual procedure is to vote to designate a district and then develop specific guidelines.

But Doug Potter, a neighborhood association board member, called that procedure ''backward'' at the hearing.

''We don't want to sign up for something we don't understand,'' said business association President Andrew Blieden, president of MetalWorks (formerly J.V. Reed & Co.). ''We want to be fully involved in the process.''

''You can be as involved as you want to be,'' said Commissioner and architect Bob Bajandas, who lives and operates a business under preservation guidelines in Old Louisville.

Raith and Segrest said a tiered set of guidelines could be developed that would take into account the different development needs and plans of businesses and industries in Butchertown.

Raith described Butchertown as having ''a wide variety of land use, with stronger concentrations of historic fabric still intact.''

Some residents at the hearing also objected to extra regulations. ''Since Sept. 11, we as Americans have lost several rights, for a good reason,'' said Marc Herbener. ''This is not a good reason. It's additional government restrictions.''

''I'm gonna live in my house and do what I want,'' said Ed Mattern of Story Ave. ''I oppose this whole thing.''

Members of Grace Immanuel wanted more information. ''Our church is old,'' said Marcella Adams of Fern Creek. ''We're just here to make sure we don't get messed over.'' The church dates to 1887.

Church member Naomi Furlong of Crescent Hill added that she's concerned about having to ask permission to make changes, ''because we make our own decisions.''

Davis Boland, of Boland-Maloney Lumber Co., said his company has been there since 1937 and that improvements have been made that he doesn't think would be allowed if Butchertown were a preservation district. ''We need to get together and come up with guidelines that would work for everyone,'' he said.

Third Ward Alderman Bill Allison, who serves on the Landmarks Commission, said business owners have ''very legitimate'' concerns. ''It does give you more protection, but it does regulate what you can and can't do to your property.''

Bleakley said the neighborhood association is sensitive to concerns about added expenses property owners might incur in conforming with preservation guidelines. The association would start a fund to help, he said, adding that ''some suburban developments probably have more regulations.''

Supporters fear that Butchertown could be affected by waterfront and downtown development, in addition to the proposed Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project. Proposals include redesigning and possibly moving Spaghetti Junction south and adding a new interchange at Interstate 71 and Frankfort Avenue in Butchertown.

Also, a new bridge route just east of the Kennedy Bridge, which is expected to be recommended, would require demolishing 30 businesses and 115 apartments, homes and condominiums -- and would affect Butchertown, Phoenix Hill and downtown Jeffersonville.

The preservation district designation would not offer Butchertown any additional protection from the bridge project that it doesn't already have as a National Register of Historic Places District, Raith said. Because the bridge project is federally funded, a review of its impact on Butchertown already is required. (A public comment period on a general report detailing the impact on all historic properties in the area ended June 20. A decision about a location for a bridge or bridges is expected to be announced next month).

But if the neighborhood is designated a local preservation district, state and local officials could take that into account when deciding issues related to the road and bridge projects. ''The city makes a lot of decisions about secondary things,'' Segrest said.

Mary Pat Martin, a neighborhood association board member, said simply: ''We will have some protection once it's all done.''

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A brief history of Butchertown

Butchertown began taking on its present character about 1827, when Louisville annexed part of the area and the first wave of German immigrants arrived, according to a report prepared by Joanne Weeter, city historic preservation officer. To accommodate the growing butcher industry, the Bourbon Stock Yard was established in 1834.

The neighborhood's history can be traced to 1796, when Henry Fait established one of the area's first gristmills there. Later, Col. Frederick Geiger came into possession of the land and built a 21room farmhouse about 1815, opened a flour mill and inaugurated ferry service to Southern Indiana.

Inventor Thomas Alva Edison also lived in Butchertown (where the Edison House Museum is now at 729 E. Washington St.) between 1866 and 1868, while employed as a Western Union telegrapher.

Among the other historic buildings are St. Joseph Catholic Church, J. M. Letterle Fire Station, Butchertown Candle Factory building (which has housed the Hadley Pottery Co. since 1944), and the Metropolitan Sewer District's Beargrass Creek Pumping Station, built after the 1937 flood. Designed to pump 2.5 million gallons of water per minute, it was the largest pump of its kind in the world at that time.

Sources: ''Encyclopedia of Louisville,'' 1976 National Register of Historic Place nomination, Metropolitan Preservation Plan, ''Butchertown on Beargrass.''


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