Vinnie's

The 1970s-style nightclub Vinnie's, along with all the other classic City Block tenants, is sorely missed.

Below: Vinnie's in the good old days, still visible on Google Maps Street View:

Louisville Gold Club

Another Louisville strip club, lost to the aether. Louisville Gold Club, formerly at 319 E Market Street, is now vacant and for lease.

Boudreaux's

Well, that was certainly a short run. Boudreaux's at 116 East Main opened just a few months ago and they've already packed it in. Just happened to be walking by the other day and noticed the place is empty and for lease. I only went in here once and was treated pretty snootily, so I can't say as I'm shedding a tear to see them go.

Main Street Ice & Cold Storage

One of downtown Louisville's most memorable old buildings, loaded with character. A year ago, Broken Sidewalk reported that the Arctic Building would soon be converted into affordable apartments.

A year later, no sign of any progress whatsoever, and the Ice House Lofts blog doesn't sound like "affordable apartments" to me - it's talking about loft condos starting at $189,500.

I think I'm in no hurry to see the Arctic Building and its lime green loading dock be modified. I like it just the way it is.

D & W Silks

Speaking as someone with a less than urgent need for silk flowers, I never patronized D&W Silks. But I always enjoyed driving by it and being triggered to burst into song with "D.W. Washburn" by the Monkees.

According to their website, their corporate office is at 3301 Dixie Highway.



Looks like quite a bit of stuff on this block is being demolished. I shudder to speculate on what's to come.

Falls City Theatre Equipment Company

Last winter, I featured this old storefront's sign on the Unusual Kentucky blog but didn't delve into the building itself.


It's located at 429 S. 3rd Street in downtown Louisville, next door to Kentucky Typewriter in the abandoned Morrissey Building. Act fast if you want to see it - I suspect it's earmarked for destruction just like most other cool old buildings, and there's been some recent activity inside. Let's keep our fingers crossed that someone's actually about to rehabilitate this amazing structure.

When you look through the window, you can see the remains of what must have been spectacular old painted murals on the walls. And check out those marble-swirl columns.

Kentucky Typewriter

The Typewriter business was struggling by the 1980s, was clearly doomed by the 1990s, and nowadays no one uses them except stubborn cranks like Hunter S. Thompson and myself. That being the case, it's not a real shockeroo that Kentucky Typewriter (425 South 3rd Street) is no longer with us.

French Quarter Cajun Cuisine

French Quarter Cajun Cuisine was right next door to Zaps in the long-deserted Molee Building, which has been acquired by Blue Properties so maybe we'll see the same kind of rebirth here as with Mendel Hertz's resurrection of the Starks Building.

Zaps

Zaps Gourmet Hot Dogs, 423 W Muhammad Ali, closed abruptly in 2006 and the place is still unrented today.

415 E. Market St.

I don't know what was here last, but at some point I'm assuming it was Greene Furniture. Broken Sidewalk reported a year ago that this was about to become "The Bacon-Debrovy Lofts". So far, it looks like they haven't gotten very far on the project. (Not that I'm complaining)

Hanson Realty

This place on S. Clay Street doesn't seem to have been in operation in many, many, many years, and frankly, it doesn't look like it was a very reputable place when it was open. I mean, come on, what good is a realtor that can't find decent real estate for themselves?

FB3 Development

I'm not sure if they went out of business, or if they just moved elsewhere. Their website is still up but their "news" page hasn't been updated in two years.

I was always sort of confused about what was going on here at 624 E. Market, although it seemed very exciting. I took a tour of the place last year and was shown their "test kitchens" that could be rented by professional chefs wanting a Kitchen Stadium quality setting to experiment, or for development of prospective new food products. They also offered marketing services to help people push those new products.

These were apparently the same folks behind Havana Cola, a soft drink I heartily endorse.

Skyline Chili, Downtown

I've always loved the Brooklyn-esque quality of the corner of 4th and Market, and having a greasy joint like Skyline Chili on hand always helped that mystique. Here's hoping something else with the proper mythic resonance moves in quick, and not something lame.

107-109 W. Main

Built in 1905, this was originally the J.T.S. Brown & Sons building. Brown & Sons were a whiskey company that eventually transmogrified into the Brown-Forman company we know and love today.

The building was designed by Dennis Xavier Murphy, who also designed Waverly Hills Sanitarium.

After prohibition shut down the Browns, there was a grocer here and then a coffee company, and then the place has sat dead since 1960, amazingly. It's one of the most strikingly beautiful facades on the block, with yellowy-golden trim that still looks shiny and shimmery today.

Supposedly this whole block is to get a facelift and a new lease (no pun intended) on life with fancy loft condos, but that's something that's been yapped about endlessly and never seems to happen. We continue to wait and hope.

The 110 Building

So whatever was in this building at 110 E. Main Street? It's been empty and available for seemingly an eternity, and a quick Google search didn't yield anything immediate - just a realtor's page and of course, Google Maps Street View.

Walgreens, Fourth Street

People make waggish remarks about there being a Starbucks everywhere you look, but did you notice how there really is a Walgreens within walking distance of practically any point in the city? In some areas, you have Walgreens stores spaced only 60 seconds apart.

So how come the one on Fourth Street had to close down?

The empty space has sat here for a long time now. If Walgreens had any sense, they'd get it back and move back in again. This one was the oldest and the best.

Olive's on Fourth

How long has Olive's been gone? Just noticed recently that the place appears empty, and their telephone's disconnected. 570 S. 4th Street.

McCrory's

The perenially empty building that once housed the McCrory's department store on Fourth Street remains desolate. According to Broken Sidewalk, it almost had a tenant last summer, but the deal fell through:

Earlier this summer plans were announced that a local nightclub would open in the old McCrory’s building on Fourth Street between Muhammad Ali Blvd. and Chestnut Street. This was excellent news as the local response to 4th Street Live has been timid to put it mildly. In August, workers were clearing the interior of the building in what we hoped was a precursor to construction. Broken Sidewalk has now learned plans for the site have fallen through and the property is back on the market. Financing the project seems to be largely to blame.

Mercury Paw

Although Mia Frederick's nightclub The Mercury Paw was shortlived, it carved out a huge swath in Louisville music history. My Morning Jacket, Speed to Roam, Blacklisted, Freakwater, Glasspack, King Kong and Sean Garrison all played there. Even national acts like Man Or Astroman played there.

It was a wonderfully decrepit old venue in the old, old, ancient, dirty, old part of downtown. And before Mercury Paw, it had been something called The Zodiac Club.


Today the building at 117 Main Street stands empty, and hey, when did their sign get taken down? At least the handsome old wrought-iron front gates are still there. For now.

Burwinkle Hendershot

I don't even know whatever happened to Burwinkle Hendershot. Their old location on Main Street downtown is still there, empty as ever. There's been talk of swanky lofts going in there for an eternity, but it never happens.