Historic Trolley  Barn Site Will  House
                       the  Kentucky Center  for African
                       American  Heritage
                                   Louisville, Kentucky
    he Russell neighborhood was once the vibrant heart of the African
American community in the City of Louisville, Kentucky, and this
neighborhood will soon be home to a museum and cultural center
highlighting and honoring the contributions of African Americans to the
city's and the state's history.  The Kentucky Center for African American
Heritage will be established in the city's historic trolley barns and three
other buildings that make up the complex, with the main trolley barn
building serving as the primary exhibit hall. The trolley barn was used for
transportation-related purposes beginning in 1879, when it housed mule-
drawn trolleys. Later, mechanized trolleys were serviced there.
Because of its history, the trolley barn site was once thought to be
unusable because of prohibitive cleanup costs associated with the site's
perceived contamination. However,  an EPA Assessment Pilot grant has
given this property new life-an environmental assessment conducted on
the site using Pilot funds revealed minimal contamination that required
only minor cleanup, and the museum project is now underway. The
groundbreaking for the heritage center took place in February 2003, and
it will open to the public early in 2005.
The trolley barn site lies within one of Louisville's old industrial corridors,
part of which is littered with abandoned and underutilized properties that
cost the city $8.7 million annually in lost property tax revenues. The two-
acre trolley barn property is a prime  example of a site where the stigma
of major environmental contamination discouraged any redevelopment
interests-an earlier environmental assessment indicated that it would cost
$30 million for cleanup.  To help address the barriers to redevelopment in
this 5,401-acre area, which is designated an Empowerment Zone, EPA
awarded the city a $200,000 Brownfields Pilot Assessment grant in
September 1995.
Thanks to this EPA funding, Louisville was able to target the trolley barn
site for a new environmental assessment, the results of which
contradicted the previous $30 million cleanup estimate (which would have
required soil removal and possible groundwater cleanup). The initial high
estimate was based on the site's history, which most recently included a
janitorial cleaning supply house where various pesticides and herbicides
were blended.  Based on the  new  assessment, the city was able to  move
forward with soil cleanup at a cost of only $80,000, while remaining fully
protective  of the health and safety of local residents. Additional costs
were incurred for lead abatement and building stabilization.
                                                                              The old trolley barn property,
                                                                                  prior to restoration
 JUST  THE  FACTS:

 •  The trolley barn site lies within one of
    Louisville's old industrial corridors, part of
    which is littered with abandoned and
    underutilized properties that cost the city
    $8.7 millionannually inlost property tax
    revenues.
 •  EPA's Brownfields Pilottargetedthe trolley
    barn site for an environmental assessment,
    the results of which contradicted a previous,
    $30 millioncleanup estimate.
 •  Based on the updated assessment, the city
    was able to move forward with soil cleanup
    at a cost of only $80,000, while remaining
    fully protective of the health and safety of
    local residents.
          Because of its history,
     the trolley bam site was once thought
  to be unusable because of prohibitive cleanup
   costs associated with the site's perceived
 contamination. However, an EPA Assessment
 Pilot grant has given this property new life—an
environmental assessment conducted on the sik
 with Pilot funds revealed minimal contamination
  that required only minor cleanup. The site will
    soon be home to an African American
        museum and cultural center.
                                                        continuec

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  The trolley barn property is now on its way to becoming home to the Kentucky
  Center for African American Heritage.  The complex's 40,000-square-foot main
  barn features an elegant clerestory and will house the primary exhibit hall.
  The idea for this museum/cultural center was submitted to the City Housing
  and Urban Development Department by the Louisville and Jefferson
  County African American Heritage Committee. According to  Lora
  Bradshaw, chairperson for the committee, the museum will "be
  something that's significant to the entire  community. It won't just be
  African Americans-everybody will be proud of what the museum can
  be."  Exhibits in the museum will tell the stories of African Americans
  in Kentucky from the pioneer days through the  civil rights movement,
  including such well-known figures as York, a slave who made a
  significant contribution to the Lewis and Clark expedition.
  The African American Heritage Foundation partners in the heritage
  center, including federal, state, and city governments, financed a $2.5 million
  project to stabilize the four buildings of the trolley barn complex. The buildings
  are owned by the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and are to be
  leased to the foundation for $1 a year. The $7.8 million needed to renovate the main
  trolley barn building and ready it for exhibits will be paid for with additional state, city, and private
  funding. An additional $2.5 million will need to be raised to finance the creation of the exhibits. The
  Heritage Foundation will seek private donations and will likely receive some funding from the metro
  government.
                        CONTACTS:
                        For more information contact
                        U.S. EPA-Region 4
                        (404)562-8661
                        Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
                        http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
Louisville, Kentucky
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
      EPA 500-F-00-254
            March 2004
www. epa.gov/brownfields/

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