If you are planning to attend the Forecastle Festival by the River this weekend, you might be surprised at its early history. Now one of the top 15 festivals in the country, the festival that attracts thousands of visitors from 25 states and 271 countries started out as a free summer outdoor festival in Tyler Park in 2002. Costing only $500 to produce, the event honored the local music community and drew a few hundred fans. This solid start foreshadowed the great event that will take place from July 13-15^th at Waterfront Park.

The festival name “forecastle” refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship, specifically, the area “before the mast” where ordinary sailors live. When you look at the Forecastle website, you will note that it is nautically themed and promises great adventure.

This year’s festival marks the 10th anniversary of Forecastle and promises a fun-filled three days of live music on multiple stages  (on the Waterfront, theBelle of Louisville and at Club116), groundbreaking art, fun at Waterfront Park, afterparties, and much more. As you plan your weekend, here are some handy references:

Check out the Forecastle website for the best overview.

Follow Forecastle on Facebook for the latest news and updates on performers and events.

Take a look at the “ultimate checklist” to plan your schedule and know the rules.

For an introduction to Forecastle, especially for out-of-towners, read a Beginner’s Guide.

You can read the interesting history of the festival below, based on an account from the Forecastle Festival website. Want to know more about Louisville? I’m Mollie Younger from the Younger Group where We Know Louisville. Give me a call and get started today!

Forecastle Milestones

In each subsequent year, the festival grew and became more popular.

2003 – After the first festival, organizer Bob McKnight was so thrilled at how the festival turned out that the next year, he collaborated with Sculptor Mike Ratterman to recruit 30 artists to join the effort. A dozen environmentalist and social –conscious groups joined in, as they saw the festival as a great forum for educate those in attendance. Forecastle took shape at the Music, Art, and Activism® festival it is today. Attendance tripled!

2004 – JK Knight regionalized the festival by bringing artists, musicians, and journalists from the region and beyond. He brought together 18 bands, 30 artists, and 25 non-profits who drew an even bigger audience. Realizing he was on to something, he applied for Federal Trademark to protect his concept of Music, Art, and Activism®

2005 – The festival moved to Cherokee Park, the first festival held there in over 10 years. The park was divided into three sections, with a national act invited to perform on one of the stages. McKnight raised over $60,000 to underwrite the festival, which attracted the largest group of musicians, artist, and activists in the state. The activism was limited to environmental ism and outdoor lifestyle activities. As the cost to produce the festival increased by 10x, corporate sponsors such as Red Bull North America and Patagonia joined forces with local businesses to cover them. The festival attracted over 5,000, more than even better financed events in the area and became a model for festival planning.

2006 – Forecastle moved to the Mellwood Art and Entertainment Center, expanded to a two day format and attracted top acts including the female trio Sleater Kinney. When the group announced they were disbanding, ticket sales for festival soared nationwide and articles about the festival appeared in Billboard,  The New York Times, MTV, VH1, CNN, and more. Forecastle was named as “One of the Top 101 things to do in America” by Spin Magazine.”

2007 – Buoyed by success, Forecastle acquired national sponsors and  again moved to a bigger venue at The Riverfront Belvedere. Artists, musicians, and environmentalist  from 10 regional  cites were invited to contribute equally. The result was shows on the East and West stage, a regional art exhibition, and 50 environmental organizations, plus speakers, educational panels, an extreme sports park, eco-business expo, and “active lifestyle” event along the river. Forecastle gained national prominence.

2008 – Forecastle expanded to three days, and added a campground, plus a symposium at the Galt Hotel to promote opportunities for performers, artist, and organization leaders to interact, network, meet promoters and leaders, and share skills and concerns.

2009 – Forecastle partnered with master promoters Nederlander Entertainment  to combine their respective festival and concert expertise. The successful enterprise pulled in 44,000 attendees from 44 states and six countries. Forecastle was named among the “Top 15 Outdoor Festivals in the Country ” by Outside Magazine, the “Top 10 Events in the State” by the Kentucky Tourism Council, and “The Best Music Festival in Louisville” by the readership of LEO Weekly.

2010 – The festival moved to Waterfront Park, where it attracted 100 bands and 30,000 attendees. Forecastle also pledged its support to the 1% for the Planet, a group committed to creating a healthy planet.

2011 - Forecastle partnered with AC Entertainment, promoters of over 750 concerts each. The first joint effort was set for this year, but in 2011, the partners hosted “Half Way to Forecastle” to give Louisville a taste of the future.

2012 – The best is yet to come as the mix of festival and concert promoters are brings in bands such as My Morning Talk, Girl Talk, Bassnector, and more, artists from the American Poster Institute, and booths and activities presented by environmental non-profit or outdoor recreational groups, plus many attractions such as Kentucky Bourbon Lodge and Louisville Village carnival.

Come to Forecastle and help Louisville once again make history by making the festival the biggest and best ever.

Louisville proves itself time and time again to be a great city for buyers and sellers. On the buyer’s side, you can get a lot of house for the money. On the seller’s side, the city has so many magnets to pull in buyers with different wants and needs that it is important to price the house to sell and make the buying decision a no-brainer. We have

• Charming older homes and condos in historic Butchertown, where you can buy hometown sausage and art treasures on the same trip…
• Nightlife in The Highlands, where you can live close enjoy to the action to walk home after a night of fun…
• Suburbia in St. Matthews, with shopping galore…
• A rural atmosphere in Fern Creek, Middletown, Bardstown, or Shelbyville…
• Renovated downtown lofts and condos, where you can enjoy history, convenience, and a happenin’ entertainment scene all in one…

The list goes on, but with variety like this, you don’t want to let your buyer go if your home matches the type of residence they want.

At the moment, there are 7,754 single family homes for sale in Louisville; 782 sold in August, 2011 for an average price of $168,859. The median price was $139,200 so there were many homes in the affordable range for first time buyers as well as move up buyers.

If you are selling your home, you may make the mistake of letting things besides the market value influence how you agree to let your agent price it. When you list your home, your Realtor® will show comparable sales data from homes in your neighborhood. Your home may outshine other on the block with its features, curb appeal, and condition but you take risks if you price too high. Four things often come into play:

• You are hung up on how much you paid for the home or how much you put into it.
• Your home has many memories that make you think your home is more valuable.
• You owe more on the home than the going rates in the area and you forget that buyers will not overpay to compensate your circumstances.
• Your home has unique features you think will be in demand.

You may not want to hear this, but dropping the price is still the key technique to moving your home. As Zillow, the property website, found in a recent survey, home sellers are unrealistic about how much their home is worth. They often insist that the agent price the home too high and assume that their home will beat the odds and appeal to buyers at the price point they set.

If your price too high and have a home with stand-out features, your home may sell – in time. That is a big risk though. As the old adage goes, “strike while the iron is hot” in home pricing. Buyers like homes fresh to the market. The longer a home is on the market, the more people think that “something is wrong with it.” Most people know that home sales have been down, but home shoppers think this way any anyway. You may want to try a higher price but a series of price cuts sends out a bad message to your buyers.

If you want or need to move, why delay? The high home prices of the past may have made you expect that you will make money on your home when you sell it, but don’t let that old expectation block your chance to move on the home you want, the one that meets the needs of your family now.

The Louisville market might be best for buyers, but you have a good chance of selling if you are realistic. My team and I at Younger Group Real Estate can list your home and show you affordable homes in this great city in Butchertown, St. Matthews, The Highlands, and other great Louisville neighborhoods. We know Louisville.

With the Labor Day weekend approaching, Louisville transitions from the Fair to two classic end-of summer events in the downtown area. Whether you go around the world or around Waterfront Park, you shouldhave a fun weekend.

Worldfest, held from September 2-4, will bring together food, culture, music, shopping, and patriotism right in Downtown Louisville on the Belvedere. It pays homage to the diverse population of Louisville as reflected in the public schools where 90 languages are spoken and in the population where 50% of the growth in the last 15 years has come from foreign countries.

Visitors to Worldfest can sample food from Louisville’s great ethnic restaurants and buy crafts from different countries. Music and dance from different countries will be ongoing on four stages. During the weekend event, hundreds will become US citizens in a naturalization ceremony after a stunning Parade of Cultures on Saturday, September 3 at noon. Kids can even experience the passport process by “applying”; the first 300 will receive free tickets to the Louisville Zoo and Louisville Slugger Museum.

Worldfest was signaled out in 2010 when Louisville was name best city for festivals by the International Festival and Events Association. It is Kentucky’s largest assembly of international restaurants, vendors, and exhibitors with over 150 booths. This is the first time the festival has continued through Sunday.

Now in its 8^th year, the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Subway Hike, Bike & Paddle will occur on Monday, Sept. 5 at Waterfront Park and will offer more events than a similar day help Memorial Day weekend. As Mayor Greg Fischer says, “This is one of Louisville’s signature events and we’re always looking to make it even better, with new ways for families to have fun, exercise and be healthy. On Memorial Day we added a course for canoes and kayaks and had a super response, plus a record number of cyclists, and now we’re adding new healthy options with yoga and tai chi in the morning.”

Part of Louisville’s Healthy Hometown Movement to encourage citizen to make healthier lifestyle choices with exercise a part of their everyday life. Some of the events will include:

Cycling: The whole course from Waterfront Park to the Metro Parks is 15 mile, but turnoffs are set up so cyclists can take shorter rides. Both water stations and “Bike doctors” will be available along the route to make sure cyclists and their bikes are safe.

Hikers and walkers: A wheelchair-accessible route at the eastern end of Waterfront Park beckons those on foot to enjoy scenic views of the river and even walk their pets.

Paddlers: Canoers or kayakers will launch on a 3 mile course from the Garvin Brown III Rowing Center to Waterfront Park, where they can participate in other activities and visit the booth before being able to take shuttles back to their boats.

With many more festivals

in Louisville before the cold weather comes again, Worldfest and sports events this coming weekend are a great way to enjoy a little family bon

ding before fall gets busier.

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!

Several years in the planning, Museum Plaza will change the skyline of Louisville. An architectural marvel, the 632 story skyscraper will provide 4,000 construction jobs during the building phase and thenoffer downtown Louisville an exciting blend of residential, retail, office, education, and leisure activities including a center for contemporary art. The questions remain, when will this come to be?

Originally planned in 2006, Museum Plaza had a ground breaking in October, 2007. By early 2008, the project was sidetracked by engineering problems and the recession. Financing remained stalled until the city gained approval in November, 2010 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a $100 million loan, pending the developers raising $140.5 million in conventional financing and submitting paperwork.

According to the original plan, the final design will include”

• 98 luxury condos
• 117 studio loft condos,
• 270,400 sq ft (25,120 m²). of offices on 13 floors,
• 250-room Westin Hotel that has a ballroom, fitness center, spa, restaurant and bar/lounge,
• 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m²). public plaza,
• 20,000 sq ft (2,000 m²). of restaurants and shops,
• 36,500 sq ft (3,390 m²). of studios for the University of Louisville fine-arts program, a glass shop, and fine arts gallery,
• 40,000 sq ft (4,000 m²). of contemporary art space,
• 800-space parking garage.

Many projects like this might have died on the drawing board after 5 years, , but Museum Plaza is important to Louisville. As Mayor Greg Fischer recently put it, “There’s a lot of hope around Museum Plaza. The developers around that are fantastic community citizens. Obviously, they are the folks behind 21c. They also stepped up to help with the Whiskey Row and Iron Quarter projects and Museum Plaza will be an iconic architectural statement for our city. This project will probably be one of the most talked about construction projects from an architectural standpoint globally once it’s launched. So it will be a tremendous benefit for our city and provide some much needed Class A office space.”

The site for the project uses hard-to-use parcels of land between a levee and a highway, which is further bi-sected by a subterranean electrical utility right-of-way and several arterial streets, and integrates the building into downtown. Given Louisville’s love for historic preservation, it is exciting that three facades 615-621 W. Main Street, were saved and will provide an entryway over the floodwall into Museum Plaza. Early construction efforts shook these facades, but keeping them intact is a high priority. The building will be a cornerstone Louisville’s West Main Street Historic District. Its creative design will make it a “explanation point on Louisville’s skyine,” in the words of former Mayor Jerry Abramson.

The completed 1.5 square foot complex will solidify Lousville’s place in contemporary art world. Not only will art be created on site, but the Plaza will draw area residents downtown and pull support from the region. Since a plaza and park will link the skyscraper to the Frazier International History Museum, the Louisville Science Center, and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, other museums in the area will benefit too.

Museum Plaza is pure Louisville creativity at work. Though construction may not have resumed yet, just wait! After all, we are the Possibility City! To discuss your own possibilities, my team and I at Younger Group Real Estate can show you affordable homes within your budget in Butchertown, St. Matthews, The Highlands, and other great Louisville neighborhoods near the Derby. We know Louisville!

Our current economic times present most of us with a dilemma:  there are so many people in need, yet our own resources can’t do enough to help them.  In particular, kids with cancer pull at our heartstrings.  Childhood cancer is the top cause of death among children in the U.S. and Canada, while 160,000 children worldwide are diagnosed each year.  Assuming that you can’t write a big check to find a cure for children in Louisville and elsewhere, how can you help?

On Sunday, March 13, Louisville will host an event to get to the roots of the problems: the annual St. Baldrick’s Shaving Event will take place at Fourth Street Live . Over 100 volunteers will have their heads shaved by volunteer barbers to show their solidarity with children stricken with cancer – and to raise money for the cause through pledges from their family and friends.  Following the event, restaurants such as Windy City Pizzeria ,will host after shaving parties to celebrate and Irish dancers, music, and fun will mark the day.

The event is named for a fictional saint, whose name blends “bald” with “St. Patrick.”  In 2000, a group of three Irish-American reinsurance executives from Monrovia, CA came up with a unique fundraiser in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day: a head-shaving event to benefit kids with cancer.  Twenty people who volunteered to shave their heads collected pledges from their friends in an effort to raise $17,000 on the 17^th.  They raised over $104,000 and an annual event was born.  The concept  spread throughout the county; since 2,000, over 147,000 women, including 12.000 woman, have participated and railed over $90 million. 

St.Baldrick’s was incorporated as a non-profit in 2005. Since then, it has become the largest funder of cancer research net to the U.S. government.  Over 250 grants totaling over $55 million have be give to researchers who apply for the grants.  Although the foundation’s money has not provided a cure for cancer, children who succumb to cancer now have a survival rate of over 80% as compared to 50 years ago.

With the  8th annual St. Baldrick’s event in Louisville, there is still plenty of time to participate.

Don’t want to shave your head?  Volunteer to barber, sign up participants, take pictures, or collect money with one of the Louisville teams.  Of course, any of these teams will gladly accept donations.

Can’t make the day?  There are many St. Baldrick events in the Louisville area.  St. Albert the Great will host a similar event on March 20 at 6:00pm. 

Looking for another tangible way to help children with cancer?  Many organizations, such as Locks of Love collect hair to make human hair wigs for children and adults who have lost their hair to cancer treatments.

Looking for a home in this giving city? My team and I at  Younger Group Real Estate can show you affordable homes within your budget in Butchertown, St. Matthews, The Highlands, and other great Louisville neighborhoods.  We know Louisville!

As 2011 dawns in Louisville, the city is preparing for the inauguration of a new mayor, Greg Fischer. The Center for Neighborhoods is even handing out free tickets this week to people involved in neighborhood groups, homeowners associations, nonprofit civic groups and small cities to the One City Inaugural Celebration Breakfast next Monday. Fischer, who won the recent election with 51% of the votes promises to create jobs, develop neighborhoods, and expand the economy – welcome words to Louisville residents.  These are the type of programs that can spur the housing market too.

Fischer has a special commitment to downtown development and promises incentives to streamline the permitting process, provide property tax abatement for private developers of affordable housing, provide rehabilitation tax credits for historic structures, and return vacant and abandoned properties to regular use.  He foresees a downtown connected to neighborhoods. As he noted in his campaign platform,  “It is important for Louisville to have a strong downtown because downtown is where we come together as a community. It is where people from PRP, Prospect, Russell, and Fern Creek sit side by side for a show or a game.  It is where our visitors stay and do business.  Downtown belongs to all of us.”

Time will tell if this is just another politician talking, but developments in downtown and surrounding areas have already turned downtown into a more vigorous business district, an afterhours playground, and an exciting housing alternative.  The scene has been set for the future:

Housing units in downtown are expected to exceed 4,000 by the end of 2010 due to new construction and renovation of old buildings.  Current projects in varying states of development include Museum Plaza, Gallery Square, Mercantile Gallery Lofts, the Hub at 300-320, and the Fleur de Lis Condos will offer housing and retail.  Supplementary services, such as the newly owned CitySpaces storage facility in nearby Butchertown, make moving to potentially smaller quarters in the central city very convenient. 

 Yum! Center, as well as the new Muhammad Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and Waterfront Park offers sports and entertainment especially convenient to city dwellers.  A short distance away, Fourth Street Live offers restaurants and additional entertainment options.

Preservationists and entrepreneurs are talking about how to use old buildings as the basis of new development.  A previous redevelopment plans known as the Iron Quarter Project would have demolished seven warehouses built between 1852 and 1905 to make way for 110,000 square feet of offices and 120,000 square feet of retail; curtained by the economy and preservationists, the project now proposes incorporating old building facades into the design.

Other projects, such as City Center, are set to redevelop large sections of downtown, if tax abatements and financing are obtained.

While there are many projects on the drawing board, which fall to the Metro Council to approve and the public to debate, the new mayor will be cheerleader for further downtown Louisville development.  Given his entrepreneurial background, he is expected to be an innovator who will have interesting challenges ahead as he shapes downtown Louisville. 

Louisville!  What a city!  Mollie of Younger Group Real Estate can show you the best places to live!. We know Louisville!

December, 2010 is upon us already!  This year has been a very eventful one in the world of real estate and for me personally; regardless of how the year has gone for you , I know you will want to end it on a joyful note. In Louisville, how better to do that than to enjoy the beauty of the city, awash in lights.

Perhaps you already got in the spirit of things during the 30th Annual Light Up Louisville celebration on Thanksgiving weekend, when a chain of events including the Run Run Rudolph 5K Walk,/Run, musical performances, and parades culminated in Santa’s arrival and the illumination of the 45 foot Christmas tree near the Metro Hall. This year’s tree was donated by Ben and Thelma Alley of Louisville, who nurtured the tree on their property on Southern Parkway for 26 years.

In keeping with Louisville’s green initiative, the main tree and 30 other trees in Jefferson Square Park are covered with LED lights. LG&E is donating the cost of operating the lighting exhibits to earn Green Energy Tags to support the growth of renewable energy.

Even if you missed the event, you should still visit downtown after dark and catch a glimpse of the magnificent tree. While you are getting your light-fix, don’t forget KaLightoscope Christmas at the Galt House Hotel.  Life-sized holiday sculptures with a Chinese flair are the main attraction, but there are also a life sized edible gingerbread village, Santa events, and Mistletoe Marketplace that offers unique gifts with a Louisville flair.  What gives KaLightoscope Christmas a different twist are the dinner show which incorporate light and song to create holiday magic.  Your choir, band, or choir can audition to participate in the show, as well as entertain shoppers at Mistletoe Marketplace.  Initial reports about this display indicate that it is spectacular. Over a year in the planning, KaLightoscope Christmas is expected to attract 75,000 visitors.

If seeing the lights is mainly a good reason to socialize and enjoy the best food and drink in Louisville, you will not want to miss the Holiday Lights Tour, the seasonal offering from City Taste Tours.  From December 10 through December 23, you can marvel at spectacular light displays in Downtown, Old Louisville, and Jeffersonville, Indiana, enjoy holiday music on your journey, and sample holiday treats at local restaurants on one of these 2 ½  hour tours.

For a festival similar to Light Up Louisville, be sure to visit Bardstown Road Aglow on December 4 from dusk till 10:00 pm.  Promoted as a neighborly festival for people of all faiths and backgrounds, the Bardstown Aglow is a festival held along the Bardstown Road –Baxter Avenue Corridor for the past 25 years.  Four Roses is sponsoring this year’s Holiday Bourbon Battle among local competing bars and restaurants; patrons are invited to sample the drinks and vote on them between November 27 and December 4, the day of the event.  Santa will turn up, as will strolling carolers, but many retailers, bars, and restaurants are offering specials in addition to the holiday entertainment.

End 2010 on a light and joyful note – enjoy the beautiful lighting displays around Louisville.

For great Louisville real estate, contact Mollie Younger of Younger Group Real Estate. We know Louisville!

Years in the planning, Louisville’s new arena, Yum! Center, opened on October 13, 2010 for an exhibition basketball game between the University of Louisville and Northern Kentucky University. 

Though the arena is the official home of the U of L Cardinals’ Volleyball and Basketball, it will host of variety of sports events, concerts, ice shows, conventions and other events. More than an entertainment and sports facility, the $238 million center is hoped to be the engine of development for Louisville.

The prime waterfront location in the center in downtown Louisville is bordered by Main Street on the south, Third Street on the west, River Road on the north and Second Street to the east on a site previously owned by Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E). After much wrangling, this site was selected over less expensive alternatives, or over locations further from downtown where the predicted traffic congestion would be less. Its proximity to the river has made way for water taxi service on the Belle of Jeffersonville between downtown and Southern Indiana, which should offer one group of fans an interesting way to circumvent traffic.

Near the 4th Street Live entertainment district, the arena has already boosted the fortunes of locally – owned business in the area or looking for a new location. Unlike national chains who plan their moves to new locations after years of strategizing, local businesses may have more flexibility to make decisions and move more quickly. As Sam DeShazer, board member of the Louisville Independent Business Association, notes in the Courier-Journal, “The large guys aren’t relocating anywhere. I think the economy – in a sort of ironic way – has turned its attention to independent business.”

Some businesses like the Bluegrass Brewing company developed a space across from the arena into a restaurant and brewpub rather than open a new location outside the city. They anticipate that their $2 million investment will be easily justified by pre- and post-event patrons. White Castle planned for the opening of the arena by expanding and renovating its location at First and Market a couple years back. Impellizzeri’s Pizza made a similar decision when they opened a new location on Main Street; one of their partners called the new location the “local 4th Street Live.” The arena area and the 4th Street areas are expected to cross pollinate with restaurants, events, and patrons so both districts are will be seen as one large entertainment district and provide each other with both people and activities.

Even businesses not tied to entertainment are attracted to the downtown area, as the State of Kentucky is offering tax credits for employers who locate in the city. According to the Downtown Development Corporation, there are eight projects on Main Street near the arena that are under development due to the energizing effect of the arena project.

What is less certain is the extent to which the arena will draw patrons from the outside the region. Concerts like the Eagles, Lady Gaga, Dan Cook, The Judds or Justin Bieber, already scheduled at the facility, are expect opted to lure overnight guests to downtown Louisville. Traditionally, University of Louisville sports events have only attracted only 5% of their patrons from more than 100 miles away.

Yum! Center is expected to make the city more attractive for conventions, businesses, and events and upgrade the image of Louisville as a major American city. The arena will be an attractive feature for companies who want to attract employees to the area. The caliber of entertainment acts already booked for 2011 also show that Louisville is a “player” in the entertainment scene. Five religious conventions, expected to contribute $23 million to the area, have been booked through 2014; attendees at those events not only book hotels, but are notorious eaters and shoppers between convention events. Given the size of the arena and its ability to seat 22,000, other types of conventions are sure to follow.

The center will showcase Louisville in other ways too. As the city strives for recognition as a “green city,” the area contains many sustainable design features, including a light colored roof with an efficient type of reflectivity and has a “heat island effect.” It is a partner in the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Program. Since it is committed to being green, Yum! Center will enhance Louisville as a leader in finding practical way to incorporate green principles into daily life. What has been learned in building the Yum! Center will undoubtedly find its way into building practices for commercial and residential developments.

The true impact of Yum! Center on downtown Louisville development and on the region will keep statisticians busy for years. But, early predictions are positive. The huge center is mesmerizing in its appearance. The impact is expected to be ever larger.

Fun Fact on the KFC Yum! Center

• Structural steel placed in the arena weighs 5,975,000 pounds – the same weight as 746 average- size Asian elephants.
• The center-hung scoreboard weighs 40,000 pounds – as much as 11 Ford Explorers.
• There are 130 miles of electrical conduit and 322 miles of electrical wiring installed in the Arena – enough to stretch from Louisville to Chicago.
• There are 9,000 light fixtures in the arena with 17,000 lamps.
• The overall square footage of the arena (721,762) equals approximately 13 football fields.
• 60,000 cubic yards of concrete were placed in the arena, equaling 6,000 concrete trucks – represented by 25 miles of concrete trucks parked bumper to bumper.
• The arena contains 58,655 square feet of exterior glass panels – the glass on the east side of the Arena could provide for approximately 60 houses.
• The length of the Arena’s catwalk totals ½ mile.
• The Arena’s escalators are 556 linear feet – the same length as a line of 733 basketballs.
• Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires would fit from the court floor to the underside of the roof.
• The Belle of Louisville could be parked inside the Arena Lobby.
• The Louisville Slugger Museum’s outdoor Bat could be laid down in the Arena’s practice court.
• Total stairs in the Arena could service a 30-story building.

Plus….

• There are six restaurants in the facility, which include all the Yum! Brand favorites like Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell – a perk to the company for paying $13.5 million for a 10 year agreement for naming rights to the arena.
• Still hungry? You can buy a snack or souvenirs from 27 permanent stands, 32 portable locations, two fixed novelty stands, and 234 total points of sale, all operated by Centerplate, the concessionaire for the facility

Come to Louisville and get in on the fun! Contact Mollie Younger of Younger Group Real Estate. We know Louisville!