When you turn on the water faucet in Louisville, you may not think much about what comes out. The high quality water that flows into your glass is full of history that Louisville citizens can be proud of. The Louisville Water Company wants to make you aware of its interesting past in several ways.

The system that serves 850,000 people in Louisville Metro and parts of Bullitt, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby and Spencer started out in 1860 with 27 employees and a reservoir at the corner of Zorn Avenue and River Road, in the Crescent Hill, Highland District, that pulled water from the Ohio River. By 1951, pump stations were converted to electricity, so require no manning. Steam engines from the old days are on display in one former station on Zorn Avenue, and is just part of what people can come to see in recent “Tour the Tower” sessions. Tour visitors can see the steam engine in operation, plus view historic photos.

The tower, surrounded by statues, is considered to be top notch industrial architecture. The tower, along with the pumping station, was designated as National Historic Landmarks in 1971 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is the oldest standing water tower in the U.S., a real feat as the structure was partially destroyed by the Tornado of 1890. The entire facility was recently renovated a cost of $4.3 million renovation. That station is currently rented by the Louisville Visual Arts Association, which has a display honoring its history as part of the water company complex. The Water Company may reclaim the space for a water history museum when the Association’s lease expires in 2012.

Another water company treasure, the Crescent Hill Gatehouse, is a popular destination for tourist and locals who enjoy walking around the reservoir at Frankfort Avenue. Walking Wednesday tours, held from 11 am – 1 pm and from 6 pm – 8 pm, from May through September 28, begin with tour of the old facility and reservoir and conclude with the walk.

The Louisville Water Company is committed to ongoing public education in addition to providing year long tips about water conservation. The company seeks funding for a Water Education and Innovation Center that might be located next to the historic water tower and pumping station along the Ohio River. One partner in the endeavor is EDGE Outreach, a Louisville-based organization with a mission to provide drinkable water in disaster-ravaged countries such as Haiti. To add a global dynamic to center, EDGE would have a major exhibit to increase awareness about world water-quality issues.

According to Mark Hogg, executive director of EDGE Outreach, “our interest in this is huge, because it would provide us with a bigger platform” to educate people that “water, sanitation and health all go hand in hand.” Since Louisville was the site of many water-quality innovations, including advances in the 1890s in the use of chlorine to purify water, he said, Louisville will be a great site for the facility.

Hopefully, there will be a preliminary design and a business plan for the center by mid-2012. The center is projected to cost $7 million, with half coming from the company and half from private foundations. Once built, the center would sustain itself from admissions and space rental. Per an agreement between water company president Greg Heitzman and the University of Kentucky, Design and architecture graduate student at the will develop a model for the project, prepare cost projections, and suggest a location as part of a class project. MBA students would have the opportunity to evaluate a business model for the center, including its potential market, revenue, expenses and long-term viability.

The new center would be owned and operated by a new non-profit set up by the Louisville water Company and would also handle funds to help low income customers prevent shutoffs. It represents the newest outreach effort by the company, which funds programs like Smile Kentucky to provide education and services to school children, Tap Into Fitness, which provides classroom based programming to promote a healthy lifestyle, Edge Outreach to promote sustainable solutions to drinking water in underdeveloped countries, and numerous corporate giving endeavors.

In this hot weather, Louisville is a wonderful place to hydrate yourself and soak up some water history. My team and I at Younger Group Real Estate can show you affordable homes in this great city in Butchertown, St. Matthews, The Highlands, and other great Louisville neighborhoods. We know Louisville!

Since 1985, Genny’s Diner on Frankfort Ave. in Clifton has paid to tribute to a Louisville invention – the cheeseburger. Diner owner Frank Faris magnified the fried meat and cheese delight into the Big Daddy platter featuring 10 ounces of meat with cheese on a bun served with steak fries. (Bigger sizes available!) If you started out with Frickled (i.e., fried) pickles and ended with peanut butter pie, you could experience the offerings noted by Southern Living Magazine and numerous local reviewers as some of the best down home eating in Louisville. The burgers, pickles, and pies are only a small fraction of the extensive menu of soups, sandwiches, entries, and desserts. Now, after a long and heated battle with the city and local residents,Genny’s is closing its doors to make way for a Comfy Cow ice cream store, as cow trumps cow in Clifton/Crescent Hill.

Sweet Daddy – Watch more Funny Videos

Genny’s began as an eight seat establishment but grew to over 175 seats. In 2001, Faris bought a 100 year old Queen Anne house next door to raze as a parking lot. Before he got around to doing it, Clifton was named a local preservation district in 2003 and Faris was unable to gain the permission of the Metro Landmark’s Commission to tear it down and carry out his plan. When he bought it, the house didn’t look too bad, but fixing up the house would have cost Faris about $300,000.

Over the years, Faris let the house fall into disrepair, perhaps in an effort to gain permission to demolish it. He amassed many code violations. In response to court orders, he tried to give the house away as well as sell it. None of the neighborhood advocates of the restoration stepped up to buy or take the property, until the Comfy Cow stepped in.

The Comfy Cow, which currently has a store in St. Matthew/Graymoor/Devondale, saw the Frankfurt Corridor as an ideal future location. According to co-owner Tom Koons-McGee, he and his partner Roy Koons-McGee had not envisioned a location on Frankfurt available so soon, but they were able to get the place for fair price from Faris, along with many perks thrown in by the city. They plan to renovate the diner as a retail location and refurbish the house for retail and office space. The project, estimated to cost several hundred thousand dollars, will be financed with a Small Business Administration Loan, a forgivable loan from the Metro Development Authority. They city will work with the courts to waive the $70,000 in maintenance fees. In addition, the Metro Development Authority will provide $150,000 for an environmental assessment of the property. (For the full story about the battle over the Frankfurt St. house and the purchase by the Comfy Cow, click to see this WHAS 11 News video.)

The ice cream store, opened in 2009, has quickly developed a reputation for its made-on-the premises creative flavors which change daily. Voted the Best Ice Cream Shop in LEO’s 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards, flavors are introduced on a trial basis and if the public likes them they remain part of the rotation. The ice cream, made on batches of only four gallons at a time, is also served at other Louisville locations, but the St. Matthews shop on Herr Avenue, with its clever logo, ice-cream-scoop-lights, and refurbished soda fountain, is a popular family destination. Expected to open on Valentine’s Day in 2011, the store is expected to be popular at its new location on Frankfort as well, both because of its delicious ice cream and because it stepped up to refurnish a neighborhood eyesore.

There is a certain irony in that one cow-related comfort food is taking over for another. But does this change-of-hands of the Frankfurt Ave. building mean the end of the Frank Faris and his Big Daddy burgers for Louisville, birthplace of the cheeseburger? Absolutely not. Though Genny’s will close on October 16, Faris is looking at potential sites for a 200-seat restaurant with plenty of parking, possibly along the Bardstown Road and Dixie Highway corridors and Southern Indiana. Cow may trump cow on Frankfort Ave. but the greater Louisville area will emerge a winner once be both endeavors are up and running.

For good eating and affordable housing, Louisville is a winner. Contact Mollie Younger of Younger Group Real Estate for interesting, affordable Louisville properties! We know Louisville!!

When I was married recently, I wore a lovely white lace dress, but my shoes were a sexy periwinkle blue.  They not only added a fun touch of color, but proved to be comfortable enough to transport me through the streets of Paris. 

I thought about my magic blue shoes this weekend as the Louisville Home Builder’s Association is holding their annual Tour of Remodeled Homes on Saturday, August 14^th and Sunday, August 16.  This offers potential buyers a wonderful chance to see some refurbished properties our walkable city.  Sponsored annually for the past 25 years, the tour is great idea generator if you are looking to remodel your own home for your own enjoyment or for resale.  For potential buyers, the tour spotlights some the best neighborhoods in east Louisville.

Included on the tour are 3 homes in Cherokee Triangle, and 19 more in St. Matthews , Norbourne Estates, Crescent Hills, Rolling Fields, Highlands, Middletown, Beechwood Village, Hills and Dales, Douglass Hills, Jeffersontown,  Hurstbourne, and the Seneca Park and Wolf Pen Branch areas.  (Visit the clicakable map at 2010 Tour of Remodeled Homes to see exactly where the homes are.)

Some of the homes on the tour were built within the last few decades, while others are historic. One Cherokee Triangle property, for example,  was a century home that required special approval from the Metro Landmarks Commission as it was in a historic preservation district.  

Regardless of the age of their home, the owners of all the homes on the tour preferred to stay in their neighborhood rather than move. As a result, 9 upgraded the bath,13 the kitchen, 7 a deck, porch, or sunroom, and 7 the family room.  At least 13 added an addition.  Should the families move, they will see a return on investment for much of their cost, especially on the kitchen, bathroom, and deck enhancements.  These improvements will pull future resident to the neighborhoods.

Maybe you will be able to catch the tour in person or look at the renovations on line..  In any case, I will walk you through your real estate transaction in any neighborhood in Louisville, whether you are looking for a historic home or new construction – or anything in between.

We know Louisville!  Call Mollie with the Blue Shoes at Younger Group Real Estate today to put a lifetime of neighborhood knowledge at your disposal whether you are buying or selling.