LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- It is the news drivers have been waiting to hear for four decades.
There is still no shovel in the ground yet. But demolition on some Main Street buildings started Monday, meaning construction of the Ohio River Bridges Project is not far behind. "We have moved this Bridges Project out of the discussion phase and into the action phase," Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said at a press conference Monday.
The state bought the Vermont American Complex on Main Street, which has been vacant for decades.
Some buildings are contaminated with heavy metals. Many of the buildings are coming down. "To make way for a wider I-65, specifically some southbound lanes to carry traffic from the new and improved bridges," Beshear explained.
What is called the Downtown Crossing will go up in the buildings' place. But buildings on the western block of Main Street in the complex will be preserved for redevelopment. "When you see the progress that's happened here in the last 10 years on Main Street, Market Street and NuLu and Butchertown and how it's all now all coming together, it's pieces like the Vermont American building that are going to be some of those final connecting points there," said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
"Because negotiations are not yet finalized we cannot reveal the potential buyer or discuss the details," Beshear said.
The previous owner of the complex will pay for decontamination and cleanup. The state is using federal money to pay for demolition -- which Fischer adds, means jobs.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the acquisition of property and cost of demolition are all cost items in the overall Ohio River Bridges project. The state paid $3.8 million for the property.
Now that destruction is barreling along, construction starts next month. That is when work begins on a road extension in Indiana that will connect the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, (where Amazon is going in) to the future East End Bridge.
The demo work on the buildings should be done in a month. The Downtown Crossing that'll go up in their place is expected to start next spring.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
