LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Wednesday the state will invest $10 million into the redevelopment of Louisville Gardens into a sound stage.

Greenberg approved a new contract with the development group, planning to turn The Gardens into the Louisville Gardens Sound Stages for film and television production.

"As Louisville's burgeoning film industry continues to grow, the Louisville Gardens Sound Stages will be the perfect venue for production companies looking for a new, world-class space to make films, tv shows, commercials, and more," Greenberg said in a news release Thursday. "This project creates jobs, repurposes an historic vacant building, and adds to the great momentum we’re experiencing right in Downtown Louisville."

As part of the agreement, Greenberg said in a news release Thursday the city will allocate $10 million toward the project out of the $100 million allocated last year by the Kentucky General Assembly for city projects.

In December 2022, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority board gave preliminary approval of the request from River City Entertainment Group LLC at its meeting in Frankfort. The overall investment of $65 million includes $700,000 in wage incentives over the 10-year term of the agreement. River City Entertainment Group would create 50 jobs at an average hourly wage of $58, which includes benefits. 

The sound stage at 6th Street and West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in downtown Louisville will be a partnership between Unbridled Films, Sylmar Studios and Poe Companies, the city said Thursday.

"Infrastructure such as the Louisville Gardens Sound Stages enables more and larger productions to consider Kentucky as their filming location, creating more jobs in the creative and technical sectors, as well as supporting businesses," Merry-Kay Poe, with Unbridled Films, said in a news release. "We are thrilled to repurpose this iconic piece of Louisville history as a state-of-the-art facility for film and media production."

"Sylmar Studios is looking forward to being part of this growing industry in Kentucky," Tony Guanci, CEO Sylmar Studios, said in a news release.

Former Mayor Greg Fischer announced the Gardens proposal in the waning days of his final term in December 2022. Plans at the time called for four soundstages for film, television, social media and other production work across 40,000 square feet. Also included in the initial plans were a small theater, office and retail space, and a museum. Crews would renovate the building’s exterior and erect two eagle statues overlooking Ali.

The deal also would convert nearby state-owned property — between 6th and 7th streets, and Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Cedar Street — into a training facility for entertainment industry jobs.

Documents made public in 2022 indicated Metro government would lease the Gardens for $1 per year in rent over a 10-year period.

Construction on the Louisville Gardens Sound Stages is expected to begin later this year.

Known as the Jefferson County Armory when it opened in 1905, Louisville Gardens grew from a military site into a well-known entertainment venue that hosted concerts from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan, according to the Encyclopedia of Louisville.

It also served as a gathering place after monumental events of the first half of the 20th century. A memorial for victims of the Titanic shipwreck was held in 1912, people fleeing their homes during the 1937 Ohio River flood took refuge there.

The last concert there was a My Morning Jacket show in November 2006, according to a Metro government timeline. But the Gardens has sat vacant in recent years despite several plans and promises to find new uses for it. The Cordish Cos., which developed Fourth Street Live!, was required to develop the property as part of a multiblock project called Center City under a 2007 agreement with the city.

Cordish floated the idea of turning the building into a minor-league hockey arena before its agreement with the city was amended in 2012 to make the Gardens work "optional."

A Cordish spokesman told WDRB News in 2014 it was "keenly interested in the redevelopment of the Gardens," including as a 6,000-seat sports and entertainment venue. Of course, that didn’t materialize.

Metro government sought new proposals for the building that same year and later negotiated with Louisville developer Underhill Associates on a project to include apartments and retail, but those talks ultimately were unsuccessful.

Louisville Gardens

(WDRB file photo)

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