ReSurfaced on Main Street -- a pop-up plaza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             Media Contacts:

August 19, 2014                                                          Chris Poynter, 574-4546 / 396-2015

                                                                                    Phil Miller, 574-1901 / 439-4726

                                                                       

Mayor Announces Vacant Space on Main St.

to be Transformed into Arts, Performance Space

ReSurfaced initiative is a six-week project -- Sept. 19-Oct. 25

LOUISVILLE (Aug. 19, 2014) – A vacant block of West Main Street downtown will be turned into a temporary plaza with art, music, movies and craft beer, Mayor Greg Fischer announced today.

The project, called ReSurfaced, will take place Sept. 19 to Oct. 25 and involve local arts groups and architects, food trucks and local craft beer brewers, transforming 615 W. Main St. into a pop-up plaza and beer garden.

“This will be a unique and highly engaging project that we believe will draw people from all over the city and the region to experience Louisville from an entirely different perspective,” Fischer said. 

 

The vacant lot, previously proposed for development as the Museum Plaza project, was chosen for this initiative for good reason.

 

“ReSurfaced is part of a broader effort to encourage people to see the potential in our city’s many vacant spaces, surface parking lots and neglected and abandoned buildings,” Fischer said.  “We want people to think about what’s possible with some elbow grease and creativity.”

 

The project is a partnership between Fischer’s office and City Collaborative, overseen by Patrick Piuma, head of the Urban Design Studio on Third Street. Assistance was also provided by the city of Memphis, which did a similar project in an old, vacant brewery downtown that was hugely successful and was part of the Memphis Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Fischer also has an innovation team as part of that same Bloomberg program – which has been helping plan Louisville’s version of the event. 

 

Volunteers will be needed to help transform the space and manage the event, Fischer said. People wanting to help can attend work sessions every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. starting Aug. 23 and running until the space opens Sept. 19.

 

Artists or performance groups wanting to participate should contact organizers via the ReSurfaced Facebook page (facebook.com/resurfacedonmain) or visit the website, www.resurfaced.org

 

Fischer said the project was a natural evolution of what started as Parking Day -- one day in which people across the world, and in Louisville, claimed parking spots for a day and transformed them into mini-parks. Last year in Louisville, Parking Day grew into Parking Week in front of Metro Hall, a week-long celebration that also included special events like Pecha Kucha, a night of sharing ideas that drew several hundred people. Those two projects have now evolved into ReSurfaced. BlueSky Network is a leading sponsor for ReSurfaced. Other groups and contributors include:

• Axxis
• Bullhorn
• Core Design
• Eiderdown & NachBar
• Forest Giant
• Fund for the Arts
• Gazelle
• Heine Brothers Coffee
• Henry | McGalliard
• IxDA Louisville
• Kentucky Center for the Arts
• Kertis Creative
• Kentucky Guild of Brewers (KGB), representing local craft beer brewers
• Louisville Downtown Partnership
• Louisville Metro
• Louisville Visual Art Association
• Louisville Public Media
• Mad*Pow
• PART Studio
• OpportunitySpace
• Urban Design Studio