Five members of the Louisville Metro Council want to spend $15,000 from their neighborhood development funds to help pay for an economic feasibility study for the Colonial Gardens building in south Louisville. The structure at New Cut Road and Kenwood Drive next to Iroquois Park has been vacant since 2004. Vince Jarboe, president of the Southwest Dream Team community group, says there is a developer interested in buying and renovating the structure. "I certainly believe that a feasibility study is going to tell the developer what they want to know, and that is that a restaurant concept is going to be perfect for that spot, but it’s what they need to know so they can take it to their ownership group to make the decision to buy it," he said. Jarboe declined to identify the potential buyer. He says the study would be part of a broader study of the New Cut/Taylor Boulevard corridor. Some of the Colonial Gardens structure is more than a century old. A group of investors wanted to buy and raze the building in 2008, but the plans were halted when some citizens petitioned to have it declared a local landmark.Colonial Gardens was once a popular beer garden and roadhouse, and the property was the site of Louisville’s first zoo. (Photos from the Facebook page Restore Colonial Gardens)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.