Brownfields
Success Story
Revitalization on the Docket
Lexington, Kentucky
Built in 1898, the historic Fayette County Courthouse was in service by the
courts for more than 100 years before operations moved to a larger buiiding.
After the courts moved out, the three-floor building was briefly home to
the Lexington History Museum. When maintenance workers discovered
structural defects, water damage and high levels of lead paint, asbestos and
other hazardous materials, the city shuttered the building until officials could
determine a new purpose.
A few years later, city officials unveiled plans to restore the building for a
number of uses, including a restaurant and bar, Office space, visitors center
and event hall.
Holly Wiedemann, a private developer who helped lead the renovations,
noted how important the project was for the city. "This magnificent,
historic building is the centerpiece of Lexington," she says, "it doesn't give
you a good impression of the community if its focal point is a vacant and
abandoned buiiding. We needed to bring the courthouse back to life."
The Challenges
Forming a public-private partnership made the project eligible for more
than $11 million in state and federal historic tax credits, but it would have to
meet strict requirements to qualify. For example, the building would need to
contain both for-profit and nonprofit entities, and developers would need
to have the building ready and open for business before the limited-time,
expanded state tax credit expired.
Historic tax credits also required, before any work began, documenting
the building's existing condition and submitting the renovation plans for
approval to the National Park Service and the Kentucky Heritage Council/
State Historic Preservation Office. Once approved, developers needed to
confirm they had performed each step of the plan exactly as intended over
the course of the project.
"Pulling this off required much planning and coordination," Wiedemann
explains, "if we did not place the building in service in time, we would forfeit
millions of taxpayer dollars. Truly, failure was not an option."
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA Grant Recipient:
Lexington-Fayette County Urban
Government
EPA Grant Types:
Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup,
and Revolving Loan Fund Grants
Former Uses:
County Courthouse, Museum
Current Uses:
Restaurant, Bar, Visitors Center,
Event Space, Office Space
Built in 1898 and shown here in 1907,
the historic Fayette County Courthouse
has long been the centerpiece of
Lexington, Kentucky.

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The Cleanup
Environmental remediation, construction on the interior and exterior, and
renovations took approximately three years to complete. The city conducted
environmental assessment and cleanup using grant funds from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Program and subgrant
funds from the state's EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.
For the project to qualify for tax credits, workers had to remove hazards like
lead paint without damaging the historic fabric of the building. Workers had
to carefully peel layers of asbestos tile, asbestos mastic, carpet and linoleum
off of the original wood floors to preserve the craftsmanship.
Some hazardous waste came from pigeons that had infested the top floor
of the building. During an expansion of the building in the 1960s, workers
sealed the rotunda to create a fourth floor. Sealing the rotunda helped
preserve it, but it also created a home for hundreds of pigeons. "No one had
been up there for more than 40 years," Wiedemann remarks. "We had both
organic and non-organic hazardous material, to say the least."
Remediation had to be complete before workers could begin restoration
activities, which included:
•	Building a new, two-floor atrium
•	Rehabilitating the rotunda and dome
•	Installing glass floors to allow visitors a view of the rotunda
•	Installing indoor and outdoor lighting
The Benefits
The building is now completely in use. The Lexington Visitors Center is
on the ground floor, along with a new restaurant and bourbon bar. The
nonprofit VisitLEX, which occupies the second floor, runs the Visitors
Center and organizes all of the city's conventions. The third floor houses
the Breeders' Cup international headquarters, and the top floor—with its
stunning architectural dome and rotunda, and thick glass floors—is an event
space for up to 200 people.
The fully restored, in-use building is only one of the many benefits the
project brought to the downtown area. Renovating the historic courthouse
and enlivening the courthouse square sparked further development,
including multimillion-dollar expansions of both a large sports arena and the
Lexington Convention Center. A new hotel and numerous restaurants, small
businesses and professional offices also began to pop up downtown, as well
as a popular farmer's market, which sets up shop in the square on weekends.
"There's .so much activity downtown these days, you can hardly find a place
to park," Wiedemann says. "It's a wonderful problem to have."
Wiedemann estimates the renovation project created approximately 500
jobs during construction and an additional 300 indirect jobs related to the
service industry and for businesses in the building and nearby.
"What has been really wonderful is that it gave the City of Lexington a
shining star to be proud of," she says. "This project has received so much
local, state and national attention, it really has filled everyone with quite a
sense of pride."
it This project
became a lot
bigger than just
a building. It
really touched on
people's hearts.
Holly Wiedemann,
President and Founder,
AU Associates, Inc.
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at
www.epa.gov/brownfields or contact
Bob Rosen at 404-562-8761 or
Rosen. Bobflepa.gov.
EPA 560-F-2O-173
May l|

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