Downtown Walking Tours Set For The Last Weekend In October

Walking around Downtown Louisville the last weekend in October will be particularly intriguing thanks to “The Crane on Main” and the Louisville Downtown Partnership’s (LDP) Alley Gallery Walking Tour. Main Street will be completely closed to automobile traffic from First to Second Street due to the “Crane on Main,” but Main Street sidewalks will be open for pedestrian foot traffic and all Whiskey Row bars and restaurants will be open for business. Beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m., lane closures will start at South Preston Street, with cars being detoured at Brook Street. Main Street is expected to reopen by 5:00 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 30th.

A tower crane – which requires an assist crane — was installed in the Old Forester Distillery project on Main Street in 2016 and required the same closure. “We are happy to report that great progress continues to be made on this project, and it is time for the tower crane to be dismantled and removed from the site,” said Rebecca Matheny, LDP’s Executive Director.  The Old Forester Distillery project is slated to open in spring of 2018.

Old Forester is working with Whiskey Row bars and restaurants to design Old Forester cocktail creations with fun construction-themed names, like the “Road Block,” “The Hard Hat” or “Detour Ahead” for adults who venture Downtown to check out the assist crane on Main Street. “It truly is a surreal visual experience to see such a massive piece of equipment in the middle of Main Street,” Matheny added.

In addition to the “Crane on Main,” Duluth Trading Company will be holding their “soft grand opening” that weekend in advance of their official Grand Opening on Thursday, Nov. 2nd.

Alley Gallery Walking Tour

The work of local artists will also be featured in a 90-minute walking tour with Mayor Fischer and Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith from 2 – 3:30 pm. The pedestrian tour of Alley Gallery doors will begin at Fourth Street Live! and end in the lobby of the Aloft Hotel at the corner of First and Main Streets across from Whiskey Row. “Participants can appreciate great local art in hidden places on the Alley Gallery Walking Tour, and then stop by one of Whiskey Row’s fine restaurants and bars to enjoy “Louisville’s hometown bourbon,” check out the giant assist crane in the middle of Main Street, and stop in Duluth Trading Company to experience their soft grand opening,” Matheny added.

Launched in mid-May of this year, Alley Gallery – a public art program organized by LDP – turns back-of-the-building and alley service doors into an outdoor art gallery featuring the work of artists from Metro Louisville. The images are applied to the doors in vinyl and are marked by yellow location signs and black title cards listing the artists, titles of their works, and sponsors.

A total of 70 doors have been installed thus far, 35 of which will be featured on the tour. To date, 73 artists have submitted almost 500 images for consideration. For more information regarding the Alley Gallery program, please visit: www.louisvilledowntown.org and click on the “Living” tab on the home page.