Tagged: preservation

Officials from Kentucky, Indiana and the federal government are celebrating what they call the start of construction on the long-planned Ohio River Bridges Project. But a preservation group will continue its fight against a portion of the plan.

A preservationist group is requesting Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer veto a controversial ordinance that allows the Metro Council to overturn a decision made by the Landmarks Commission.

After months of debate, the council passed the bill by a 16-7 vote last Thursday that changes the city’s longstanding process to declare historic sites. Introduced by Councilman David Yates, D-25, who said the commission lacked oversight, lawmakers made a number of changes including a provision that allows a majority of council members to challenge a Landmarks Commission decision and begin a review process.

Attorney Steve Porter is representing the preservationist group OPEN Louisville, which drafted a letter to Fischer asking him to reject the ordinance.

He says the council is violating the state constitution and encroaching upon the mayor’s authority.

"If this passes and goes into affect without a veto, landmarks is the only local agency that can be overruled by the Metro Council. And I think this is in violation of the Kentucky revised statuette, which set up a separation executive and legislative power," he says.

Should the fate of historic buildings be decided by the city in general, or just those people who live nearby? That's the question at hand for the Metro Council's Planning and Zoning Committee, and they will vote on it this Tuesday. Under the current system, it takes 200 signatures on a petition to get a building declared a historic landmark. The proposed changes would require that 101 of those signatures come from within one mile of the structure, or within the same Council District.

Two southern Indiana landmarks have been put on a state preservation group’s 10 most endangered landmarks list this year.

They include Jeffersonville’s Masonic Temple (pictured) overlooking Spring Street near Warder Park. The deteriorating structure was built by Jeffersonville native Arthur Loomis and includes carved Masonic symbols in the limestone structure.