Rally opposing demolition of Whiskey Row | Business

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Protesters spent about an-hour-and-a-half at First and Main Street this morning to voice their opposition to the planned demolition of Whiskey Row.

The recently revealed deal brokered between Mayor Greg Fischer and developer Todd Blue to authorize the demolition permit for the 7 properties known as Whiskey Row has outraged some Louisville citizens, and various entities, preservationists organizations, and individuals have been hard at work pursuing different avenues to stop the pending demolition.

Part of that work included braving the cold weather from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Thursday in front of Whiskey Run itself to raise awareness of the pending demolition of nearly an entire block of historic iron front buildings. About a dozen protesters stood  on the sidewalk outside the historic buildings, making their voices hold and displaying signs like "Respect Our History" and "Save Whiskey Row."

This event wasn't organized by a specific preservation or community organization, but rather by individual grassroots citizens that aspire to do their part to hopefully save the historic Whiskey Row landmarks.

"Last night, the Mayor Fischer told a group of 91 people gathered at the Metro Democratic Club that there were many players in the negotiation, including preservationists. Yet, I don't know of one local preservationist that even knew Fischer was negotiating with Blue. This is not the kind of transparency we were promised by candidate Fischer," said Curtis Morrison. "And as long as we're talking about transparency, when does Fischer and Blue plan to reveal the identity of the stockholders both in 

"Todd Blue's eyes turn to dollar signs when he dreams about the value of his site as vacant land. At some point, he needs to accept reality. It's not vacant land, and it hasn't been for 150 years. These historic buildings are not going to be demolished," added Morrison.

Facebook event: Save Whiskey Row Rally: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163854653665358