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Photo: Neighborhood Place
Cane Run Neighborhood Place on Monday hosted a special celebration to commemorate its 20th anniversary of serving families, while South Jefferson Neighborhood Place on Tuesday will celebrate renovations after 21 years of serving the community.
Mayor Greg Fischer and Councilwoman Jessica Green joined current and former Cane Run staff, council members and agency partners Monday at the 3410 Lees Lane site to mark the occasion with cake, games and group photos.
Neighborhood Place provides health care, education, employment and social services to local families. Last year, South Jefferson Neighborhood Place at Fairdale served 14,000 families, and their satellite office at Valley High School served an additional 12,300 families. Located in the Shively/PRP area, Cane Run Neighborhood Place served nearly 15,000 households.
“South Jefferson and Cane Run are two of our eight outstanding Neighborhood Place locations across Louisville, each providing vital resources and services for our residents,” said Mayor Fischer. “Each facility allows nearby families to receive services at one location conveniently located in their neighborhoods. I want to thank the partner agencies and local communities who have built this successful model and reshaped our community’s social service system.”
On Tuesday,May 22nd, South Jefferson Neighborhood Place partners and members of the community will rededicate the renovated site with a celebration from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1000 Neighborhood Place in Fairdale. Renovations include new flooring, paint and furnishings in the office and waiting areas. The new look provides a brighter, more inviting and contemporary space for families served as well as staff.
Tuesday’s program starts at 3:30 p.m. and will include remarks from JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio; the city’s Chief Resilience Officer Eric Friedlander; Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch, Bill Wagner, CEO of Family Health Centers and other supporters. Tours will be offered, Fairdale Christian Church will be grilling hot dogs, and Kidz Club will also have a tent to hand out water, chips, cookies and cake.
The South Jefferson facility was opened in May 1997 alongside the Fairdale Family Health Clinic and near Fairdale High School and South Park Teenage Parent Program to reinforce the strong partnership between Neighborhood Place and Jefferson County Public Schools.
“The Neighborhood Place Collaborative highlights that by working together across agency lines, we are able to better serve our students and their families,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “The only way to remove barriers to education is by working together as a community to address the needs of our students and their families.”
The four outdoor pools operated by Louisville Parks and Recreation will open for the season on Saturday, May 26. The Algonquin, Norton, Fairdale and Sun Valley Park pools are fully staffed with lifeguards, though the department is looking to hire additional staff for the pools this summer.
The department will be hosting a lifeguard training course for those who are interested from 4-9 p.m. Monday, May 21 to Friday, May 25. The course will take place at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center in Crescent Hill Park. Those who take the course and become certified will have all course fees waived if they commit to working at a Louisville Parks and Recreation pool for one year. Lifeguards will be paid $10.50 per hour.
Admission is $2 for children 17 and younger and $3 for adults 18 and over. Photo identification is required for anyone age 9 or older; children 8 and under must be accompanied by a guardian 12 or older with photo identification. Metro Parks can make identification cards for children who need them for $4 per card; call (502) 897-9949 for details.
(Note: For information on the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, click here.)
Parks pools will be open:
Summer 2018: May 26, 27 & 28- Memorial Day Weekend &
June 2 – August 4 pools will open with the following schedules:
Algonquin Park
1614 Cypress Street, 40210
502/772-7907
Open Daily: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. • Closed Tuesdays
Fairdale (Nelson Hornbeck Park)
709 Fairdale Road, 40118
502/361-8270
Open Daily: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. • Closed Mondays (but open Memorial Day)
Norton (Camp Taylor Memorial Park)
4201 Lee Avenue, 40213
502/451-0678
Open Daily: 11 a m.- 4 p m • Closed Thursdays
Sun Valley Park
6506 Bethany Lane, 40272
502/935-0302
Open Daily: 1p m – 6 p.m. • Closed Wednesdays
Prerequisites for Lifeguard Training
The following are prerequisite skills for lifeguard training; you will be asked to perform these skills on the first day of class.
- Swim 300 yards continuously– 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 choice of freestyle or breaststroke.
- Tread water for two minutes no hands.
- Swim 20 yards and surface dive 10 feet retrieving a 10-pound brick. Once swimmer has retrieved brick then the swimmer must swim 20 yards on their back while holding both hands on the brick to the original starting point.
- The swimmer must exit the water without using a ladder or steps. This prerequisite must be completed in 1 min and 40 seconds.
To register for the course, call Keith Smith at (502) 895-6499.
The Louisville Metro Office of Housing & Community Development and Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, in partnership with consultants Mullin & Lonergan Associates Incorporated, are leading an effort to develop a Housing Needs Assessment for Louisville.
The Housing Needs Assessment will look at the current housing stock and the community’s future needs, including both short and long-term projections for the next 20 years in five year increments. Once completed, the Assessment will serve as a guide for Louisville policy makers and housing partners, both private and non-profit. The Assessment is anticipated to be completed in fall 2018.
The Housing Needs Assessment will:
- Examine demographic and housing market trends
- Determine the supply and demand for housing types at various income levels across market areas
- Identify areas of opportunity across Louisville’s neighborhoods, particularly in linking housing to job centers
- Provide implementation strategies to enhance the quality of housing and neighborhoods; and
- Provide a methodology that will allow Louisville Metro to update data on an annual basis using U.S. Census and other readily available sources.
Three public meetings will be held to discuss the Housing Needs Assessment:
- May 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the Edison Center (701 W. Ormsby)
- May 23 from 6-8 p.m. at the South Central Regional Library (7300 Jefferson Boulevard)
- May 24 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Middletown Firehouse (108 Urton Lane)
All Louisville residents are also asked to complete a housing survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LouisvilleResidentSurvey, whether they can attend a public meeting or not. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and will be available until May 31.
For more information on the Housing Needs Assessment, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/housing-community-development.
The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), is pleased to announce Louisville Parks and Recreation as a finalist for the 2018 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Musco Lighting, LLC has been a proud sponsor of the Gold Medal Awards program for over 10 years.
Founded in 1965, the Gold Medal Awards program honors communities in the U.S. that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation through long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development and agency recognition. Applications are separated into seven classes, with five classes based on population, one class for armed forces recreation and one class for state park systems awarded on odd numbered years.
Louisville is a finalist in the Class 1 category, which includes cities of populations larger than 400,000 and most of the largest parks and recreation departments in the United States.
Agencies are judged on their ability to address the needs of those they serve through the collective energies of community members, staff and elected officials. Louisville joins three other finalists in their class that will compete for grand honors this year.
“It’s an honor for Louisville to be named a finalist for the Gold Medal Award,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “I’d like to thank NRPA for recognizing what the citizens of our city have known for a long time: We are blessed with a world-class parks and recreation system. Our citizens and visitors have enjoyed our parks since the 1890s, when Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision began to take shape, and this is a great recognition of our commitment to keep building on that vision.”
“This is a great day for our department and its employees,” Parks and Recreation Director Seve Ghose said. “Our dedicated staff works incredibly hard every day to give all citizens of Louisville a parks and recreation system they can be proud of. We’re thrilled to be nominated for the Gold Medal.”
A panel of five park and recreation professionals reviews and judges all application materials. Judges are chosen for their considerable experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both the local and national levels.
This year’s finalists will compete for Grand Plaque Award honors this summer, and the six Grand Plaque recipients will be announced live during the NRPA General Session at the 2018 NRPA Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sept. 25–27, 2018.
For more information on the Gold Medal Awards, visit www.nrpa.org/goldmedal or www.aapra.org.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), are seeking public input regarding the proposed construction of a multi-use path in McNeely Lake Park, a public-use recreational resource protected under Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act of 1966.
The general project description is to construct a shared use path (part of the Louisville Loop) along McNeely Lake from Cooper Chapel Rd to Cedar Creek Rd, to connect with the access road in the vicinity of the soccer facilities in the south area of McNeely Lake Park.
The purpose of the project is to enhance the park experience by providing connectivity to and within the park. This extension of the Louisville Loop will provide a connection between Cooper Chapel Road and Cedar Creek Road. This connection will allow access to existing recreational activity areas, as well as, to previously inaccessible areas. The need for this project is identified through the evolving land use changes surrounding the park. The land is changing from lower density agricultural lands to higher density residential areas in southern Jefferson County. There is demand for better connectivity to the developed recreational facilities within McNeely Lake Park. This project is identified in the Louisville Loop Master Plan and the McNeely Lake Park Master Plan.
The Louisville Loop is a shared use path that once completed will encircle the city of Louisville. It is estimated to be a 100-mile system that will link existing and new parks with the surrounding neighborhoods and communities. The path is intended to be both recreational and functional. It provides alternative transportation routes for pedestrians, bicycles, equestrian, and transit. It will provide linkages not only within the park, but also, to the surrounding neighborhoods and schools, such as Wilt Elementary School. This project will also provide an ecological stepping stone between Jefferson Memorial Forest and The Parklands of Floyds Fork. The goals of this project and the Louisville Loop are to improve their users health and fitness, celebrate the natural and cultural history of Louisville, enrich lives with public art, and serve as a catalyst for economic development.
The preferred alternative constructs approximately 1.65 miles of shared use path, extending from the trailhead area to the northern entrance of McNeely Lake Park off Cooper Chapel Rd. This alignment travels just north of the existing overhead electric lines and just east of the proposed bridge across the McNeely Lake Dam Spillway. The path would extend on top of the dam, and generally follow the existing utility easement and lake edge until reaching the boat ramp parking area. The alignment includes a second pedestrian bridge to extend across a short cove of McNeely Lake, as well as, reconstructing/reconfiguring the boat ramp parking lot and boat ramp. This alternative terminates at Cooper Chapel Road. This alignment was chosen because it further enhances user experience, better meets sight distance requirements, and minimizes the limits of disturbance. In order to better match the surrounding land uses, the alignment will be constructed with an asphalt surface through the wooded section of the trail (from the start of the project at Cedar Creek Road to the apartment complex property), and then concrete surface through the managed portions of the trail (the apartment complex property to Cooper Chapel Rd). It effectively meets the purpose of the project by providing connectivity between Cooper Chapel Road and Cedar Creek Road. It provides connection to existing recreational activity areas, as well as, to previously inaccessible areas. The project further enhances the recreational facilities within the park. Reconstructing the boat ramp parking lot allows for the installation of pedestrian facilities that are not existing today. It allows this area to be brought up to ADA standards, and provides full access for bicyclists and pedestrians with the trail. This alternative also reduces the conflict points by eliminating the necessity to cross the driving entrances to the parking lot.
Your comments will be used in determining any potential effects the proposed path could have on McNeely Lake Park or affect the activities, features, or attributes that make the park a Section 4(f)-eligible property.
Please address any comments regarding potential 4(f) impacts anticipated from this project to:
Lindsay Ashby
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
District 5 Environmental Coordinator
8310 Westport Road
Louisville, KY 40242
(502) 210-5400
lindsay.ashby@ky.gov
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
His high school baseball teams won six Kentucky State Baseball Championships. During his 39 year as the winningest coach in Kentucky, he posted a state record of 1,144 victories. He was the sixth winningest coach in the nation.
On Thursday night, the Louisville Metro Council approved a resolution for an honorary street signs for Bill Miller the late coach of the Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers to be placed in front of the school where he coached.
“Obviously Coach Miller is legendary based on his wins and state championships but the real measure of his achievements is the extraordinary number of lives that he touched in the process. Coach Miller helped so many students and athletes grow from boys to productive young men and hundreds of them attended the services to show their respect,” said Councilman Rick Blackwell (D-12), the primary sponsor of the Resolution.
Coach Miller was born in Louisville and attended PRP graduating in 1967. He also attended the University of Alabama and played football for legendary Coach Bear Bryant. He also played baseball while with the Crimson Tide
After college, his 39 year baseball career began as a coach when he returned to PRP first as a teacher and then as coach of the freshman and junior-varsity baseball teams. During his career, the Panthers won state championships in 1994, 1995, 1996, 2008, 2013 and 2017.
He was inducted into the Dawahares/Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2017 shortly before his passing.
By unanimous vote, the Metro Council approved the placing of honorary Street signs at the northwest corner of Greenwood Road and Waller Lane, at northwest corner of Greenwood Road and Feyhurst Place and at the entrance to PRP High School at 5901 Greenwood that read “Coach Bill Miller Way”.
“I hope the honorary signs demonstrate our community’s appreciation for Coach Miller’s dedicated service to Pleasure Ridge Park High School,” said Blackwell.
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Councilwoman Marianne Butler is once again encouraging pet owners to take advantage of the next S.P.O.T. Clinic for residents of District 15 set for Saturday, May 12th.
“S.P.O.T. Clinics are an effective way to provide needed veterinarian services at a low cost for pet owners,” says Butler. “If you have not had time during the week to take care of your pet, this clinic is one way to renew a license and update vaccinations.”
Here is a list of services offered at the District 15 Spring S.P.O.T. Clinic:
- 1 year rabies vaccination: $10.00
- 3 year rabies vaccination: $15.00
- DAPP: FREE!
- 1 year altered license: $10.00
- 1 year altered senior license: $5.00
- 1 year unaltered license: $60.00
- 3 year altered license: $27.00
- 3 year senior license: $13.50
- Microchip: $25.00
The S.P.O.T Clinic (which stands for Stop Pet Overpopulation Today) will be located in the front parking lot at the Salvation Army building, 1010 Beecher Street. The hours of operation are from 9:00am until 12:00pm.
For more information about the S.P.O.T. Clinic, contact Councilwoman Butler’s office at 574-1115.