Mayor, Council Clash Over Cordish

The Baltimore-based developer Cordish Company is once again the center of a disagreement between the Louisville Metro Council and Mayor Jerry Abramson.Cordish recently dropped plans to put a restaurant in the first floor of the Starks Building at 4th Street Live. Now, the company wants to use about $900 thousand of the city-provided loans for that project to renovate the Lucky Strike bowling alley in an adjacent building.Some members of the Metro Council say the mayor must get the body's approval before re-assigning the funds. But Abramson says the money was approved in 2002 to be used for any downtown development."That's what the money was set aside for in the bond issue prior to me becoming mayor by the former Board of Alderman and that's how the funds have been used and will continue to be used," he says.The loan would be forgiven if the new business stays open for five years. Several council members have asked the state attorney general for an opinion on the issue.