LOUISVILLE | Museum Plaza | 696 FT / 214 M | 61 FLOORS
 

This thing's pretty much a go at this point...

Museum Plaza gets state aid
By Joseph Gerth
jgerth@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Monday, March 12, 2007

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Museum Plaza project for downtown Louisville cleared a major hurdle today when the General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the use of $130.million in state and local tax revenue for road, floodwall and other improvements in connection with the $465.million project.

“Museum Plaza will be built,” said Craig Greenberg, a member of the project’s development team, which was waiting for approval of the legislation as the last piece of the economic puzzle for the 62-story riverfront structure at Seventh Street and River Road in Louisville. “We will definitely have shovels in the ground later this year.”

Final passage came after the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee made changes in House Bill 549 to allow such tax benefits for similar large-scale projects throughout the state.

The bill passed the Senate 35-1. The House approved Senate changes 85-11. And Jodi Whitaker, spokeswoman for Gov. Ernie Fletcher, said he will sign the bill.

“I’m tickled to death,” said House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, the Louisville
Democrat who shepherded the bill through the House. “It’s the biggest project that will ever be built in Jefferson County using private and public money. I’m just glad it’s done.”

Saying the bill would help people in Kentucky “build buildings that can be seen from the moon,” Senate President David Williams urged passage of the legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“This is a great day for the Kentucky Senate and a great day for business,” said Senate Democratic Floor Leader Ed Worley, who worked with Williams and others over the weekend to hammer out a final version of the bill.

Read more in Friday’s Courier-Journal and at courier-journal.com
----------------------------------
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...S0101/70312061

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/mp1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/m2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/m3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/m4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/m5.jpg

hurray!

Glad to hear it is approved! This is the kind of cutting edge/crazy design we don't seem to see much in the US or even the world!

Good for Louisville!

That first nighttime rendering looks great! Very dynamic. Couldn't this have been posted to the original Museum Plaza thread, or was that purged?

_no_freaking_way_

they really going to do it?

Nightime rendering looks better.

I was never a huge fan of the design when it was announced, and to a point I'm still not sure what to think even with Louisville being a city close to home. But I'm crazy excited to see this approved! This kind of extraordinary development is very needed, esp. in a city like Louisville.

I don't know if I'll like the design when(if) it's done, but it's definitely going to help the skyline and bring some new life downtown. I think it has the possibility of really growing on me once it starts going up, so for now I'll continue to ponder those renders...


EDIT: Forgot to ask- anyone remember the height for this sucker?

Personally i like the fact that it's a bold design.

And I'm certain that this will become a wonderful signature building for Louisville..



Congrats..

:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ver2go/m5.jpg

http://www.detroithomesguide.com/img...it-skyline.jpg

^^^^^^
Yep...I was thinking the same thing here.

703 feet is the official height

I think a lot of the initial resistance to this building will be dampened once people EXPERIENCE this in person. You won't just drive by and say 'Oh, how neat!'. Despite the advances in computer renderings, this is a project that is just so massive in scope that it's difficult to portray through virtual photos or videos.

In addition to that, as each new set of renderings have emerged, it's become obvious that this is not a project that was built to stand out just for the sake of being so different (as many have insisted). The architects and the developers have spent an enormous amount of time working together to create something truly special.

In fact, I can't think of a project in recent memory where the developers AND the architects both had such fantastic visions that seemed to come together so perfectly. Usually one trumps the other at some point.

Skyscrapers have always been a reflection of technology. They're also considered some of our greatest works of art. And even today, they spur controversy wherever they are built. Museum Plaza has all of these traits. In some ways, that makes it a 'perfect' skyscraper.

Oh no, not the Detroit comparisons again. I'm not even going there...

Congrats on Louisville for pushing such a daring project like this through. I love the city. However, design wise I just never have been wild about this thing. It looks like a proposal from 1958 resurrected or something. Who knows though, I could be surprised. I'm sure it will look better in person than it does in a rendering.

Congrats to louisville for getting a 700 footer, but still think this building looks horrid. The night time render makes it look pretty sweet, but still it looks like a bunch of those black boxes built in the 60's stacked in a weird way.

Also am I the only one that sees a hand giving the peace or victory sign when looking at the render? :notacrook:

Cool building. . .

this is a really cool building butnit should be built in miami or sumwhere else

usually i hate blocky buildings but i love this design

i like it save the diagonal part.

Im sort of hooked on that mid-level piece, with the museum and other non-repetitious program stuff.

The diagonal as an experience is going to be fun......

Deisgn..no, not 60s..think 20s, Russian Constructivism. This was the kind of out-on-the edge thing those old Constructivists where doing.

I do not like the design, and am disappointed by its approval. Of course, we are each entitled to our own opinions. May this thing turn out better in person than in daytime renderings (the nighttime do make the building look better).

I didn't see the website mentioned, unless I missed it in the old thread-

http://www.museumplaza.net/


It's very well done IMO steering away a bit from the tired variety you see for every single other development. Also they show some renders and models I hadn't seen before. :)

it's so wacky and "out there" that you have to love it. it's very cool to hear it's been approved. now build it, and they will come.

Glad you guys are getting some height but I still say it looks like an offshore oil rig dragged up on the bank.

It will stand out...gotta give it that.