Revitalization group desires to present downtown Louisville a spark as tourism will get again to regular

With vaccinations already well underway and business returning to normal, Louisville officials aim to fully revitalize downtown. The economic hub flourished before the pandemic, and the city itself was a popular destination for the area due to its proximity to others.But then COVID-19 moved in and closed many stores. The aftermath of the fatal shooting at Breonna Taylor also affected life in the inner city as months of protests and riots by community activists sought social reform. Take another look below: the first meeting of the revitalization team in the city center subsided and the shops have slowly reopened. This challenge will spread the message that downtown is back up and ready to meet demand. “Before the pandemic, Louisville was thriving with record levels of tourism and new investment in the downtown area. It is important that we position ourselves to capitalize on the unique benefits of our city to rebuild it and include everyone,” Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement. This is the goal of the Downtown Revitalization Team, a group focused on finding new ways to bring people and businesses back to the downtown area. Members will focus on short-term projects that will help breathe new life into the region, be it clean-up operations, improvements to public infrastructure or the provision of resources for the homeless. “If you don’t have a healthy inner city, you are. We won’t have a healthy city and the inner city is the heart of our city,” said Mayor Fischer. The group held its first meeting on Monday and is comprised of residents and representatives from the business community, tourism and government agencies.These efforts were already underway when city crews cleared tents and items that had been in Jefferson Square Park for months. Vincent James, the head of the community building, says the city has signed a contract with the 13 homeless activists living there, who will temporarily stay in a hotel while the city tries to find permanent housing. “We just didn’t. I want to make a plan and execute the plan,” said James. Over the next few months, the group will develop brainstorming methods to give the area the spark it needs. Why now? Mayor Fischer said because more than 10 percent of the city is vaccinated and it is increasing day by day. “The more people get vaccinated, the warmer the weather and the closer the derby gets, the more people will come.” We hope downtown will, “he said. Fischer and team members stressed that Louisville is in a great position to compete with other cities in the area once tourism returns to normal. The Mayor said Louisville is ready too , to be one of the first cities to come out of the travel slump. The downtown business owners also did their part to get the word out. Before the vacation, their message to the community was to get back downtown, spend money and the Support local businesses that survived the pandemic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –

With vaccinations well advanced and business returning to normal, Louisville officials are aiming to fully revitalize downtown.

The economic hub flourished before the pandemic and the city itself was a popular destination for the region due to its proximity to other cities.

But then COVID-19 moved in and closed many stores. The aftermath of the deadly shooting at Breonna Taylor also affected life in the inner city as months of protests and riots by community activists sought social reform.

See again below: First meeting of the Downtown Revitalization Team

Now that reform efforts are geared towards changing the LMPD and city government, the protests have subsided and companies have slowly reopened. This challenge will spread the message that downtown is back up and ready to meet demand.

“Before the pandemic, Louisville was thriving with record tourism numbers and new investments in the downtown area. It is important that we position ourselves to capitalize on our city’s unique assets as we seek to rebuild and involve everyone,” Mayor Greg Fischer said in one Opinion.

That’s the goal of the Downtown Revitalization Team, a group focused on finding new ways to bring people and businesses back downtown. Members will focus on short-term projects that will help breathe new life into the region, be it clean-up operations, improvements to public infrastructure or the provision of resources for the homeless.

“If you don’t have a healthy inner city, you won’t have a healthy city and the inner city is the heart of our city,” said Mayor Fischer.

The group held its first meeting on Monday and consists of local residents and representatives from business, tourism and government agencies.

Part of that effort was well underway when city crews cleared tents and items that had been in Jefferson Square Park for months.

Vincent James, the head of the community building, says the city has signed a contract with the 13 homeless activists living there, who will temporarily stay in a hotel while the city tries to find permanent housing.

“We just didn’t want to come in and just take it all down and take people away. We had a plan and we carried out the plan,” said James.

Over the next several months the group will develop brainstorming methods to give the area the spark it needs. Why now? Mayor Fischer said because more than 10 percent of the city is vaccinated and it is increasing day by day.

“As more and more people get vaccinated, the weather gets warmer and the derby draws closer, hopefully more and more people will come to the city center,” he said

Fishermen and team members stressed that Louisville will be in a great position to compete with other cities in the area once tourism returns to normal. The mayor said Louisville was also poised to be one of the first cities to come out of the travel slump.

Downtown entrepreneurs have also done their part to get the word out. Before the holidays, her message to the community was to get back downtown, spend money and support the local businesses that survived the pandemic.