LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Construction is underway on a standing-room performance venue that will be known as "Old Forester's Paristown Hall."
On Monday, city officials helped announced a partnership between The Kentucky Center and Old Forester. The partnership will be home to a venue that is under construction in Paristown, a neighborhood is bordered by Broadway, Barrett Avenue and Vine and Brent Streets. The location will serve as a general admission venue for national touring bands, collaborative projects, new works and non-traditional arts experiences.
The new venue is expected to bring concerts, thousands of people and a lot of growth to the small Louisville neighborhood. The 28,000-square-foot building will accommodate up to 2,000 people.
"We're just delighted to be a part of this, and we're very excited about the sound and the energy that this building will bring to this community," Old Forester President Campbell Brown said.
Stacy Grimm, who is in the process of moving to Paristown, called it an up-and-coming neighborhood.
"I think it's going to draw a lot of attention," she said. "I am particular to the arts, and it's just a hop, skip and a jump from my house."
And if all goes as planned, she will be the first of many.
Steve Smith, a Louisville developer, believes in addition to concerts, the new partnership will help bring life, energy and people to the neighborhood.
"Most of the buildings in the neighborhood have been shuttered for years," said Smith, who owns Louisville Stoneware. "When your favorite band is playing somewhere, that motivates people to get up and come to places that they wouldn't normally come."
And that's why Grimm is happy with her decision to move.
"I'll be here all of the time," she said.
The Kentucky Center is naming a performance venue under construction in the Paristown Point neighborhood after Old Forester.
The new venue is part of a $33 million project to create a new arts and culture district in Louisville. Old Forester's Paristown Hall is scheduled to open for business this summer.
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