The city of Louisville continues to move forward each year. Paving is taking place across the city, with Columbus Avenue and West Oak just seeing completion at press time. The Louisville Rail Park and the revitalization of the Strand Theater are nearing completion. Sales tax continues to hold steady in a rocky national economy, and businesses continue to expand in the city.
Some of these projects have been six years in the making. At times, those projects might have to be momentarily paused until further funding could be procured. A historic, 100-year flood occurred in July 2023. Inflation – at least on a national level – has hit the pocketbooks of locals.
However, the City of Louisville believes the mission to move forward continues.
The Louisville Rail Park is a 100-acre contiguous industrial property situated in an area including Cagle, Vance, and Baremore Streets and Railroad Avenue. The $1,850,000 project is chiefly funded by a SAAW (Southern Automotive and Aeronautics Workforce) grant and is scheduled to be completed in early 2024. The project included funding for two road construction projects, one of which will soon be officially named Trojan Way. The other road construction includes the relocation of Baremore Street.
Road construction isn’t the only positive of the Rail Park project. In the hopes of attracting new industry to the city, a second phase of the Rail Park Master plan includes developing a transloading facility with warehouse space and the expansion of the current rail infrastructure.
An integral part of the project involves the North Industrial Connector. This will provide infrastructure to “connect” three major businesses in the city - Taylor Machine Works, Taylor Logistics, and Kloeckner Metals as well as the Louisville-Winston County Airport using Gladney Drive. The connector will help to streamline disassembly and shipping between the three aforementioned businesses after Taylor Defense Products, Inc. was awarded a federal defense contract. The connector will help to diffuse some of the heavy traffic on North Church Avenue between the three locations.
Another area of interest in Louisville is the revitalization of the Strand Theatre. For those of us who grew up in Winston County during or before the mid-1990s, the Strand Twin Cinema was the place for catching the latest big-screen hits. While progress would move the movie theater further down Church Avenue, the Strand Theater would remain an important historical building. Part of the restructuring of the Theater has included revamping the building as a place for live performing arts, a community center, and a healthcare facility (located on the third floor).
Each year, Louisville native and Grammy-award winner Carl Jackson, puts on a “Home for Christmas” event. However, in 2023, Jackson postponed the show due to the renovations going on at the Strand. In 2024, however, a push to complete the remodeling and repurposing of the Strand is a top priority for the city. A grant awarded last year will finance new seating in the Theater. Currently, in order to finish the project, the City is eyeing federal funding via Historical Preservation entities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as other funding sources.
While Mayor Will Hill often reminds residents to “Pardon our Progress,” each year, the City of Louisville moves forward in not only revitalizing the city, but bringing in new small businesses and working to attract larger industries that will provide comfortable living wages. Pair that with the relatively low cost of living in Louisville, and that’s a recipe for successfully keeping our youth “at home” in Winston County.
