It can be purchased at Steve’s site, wiserdesigns.com. “Steve has authored 3 house design books on Louisville.  These 3 books are based on the fact that Louisville consistently ranks high as one of the best places to live in America. It was named the top livable city in 2012, 2008, and several other years over the past few decades. To be a great place to live, there has to be good, desirable neighborhoods and the city has many such as Old Louisville, Highlands, Cherokee Triangle, Crescent Hill, Audubon Park, just to name a few.

And, within these great neighborhoods, there has to be good residences in which to live. Thus, Steve and photographer Dan Madryga sought to profile some of the noteworthy houses in which to live within Louisville.  And, thus 3 books were developed on different housing styles: Modern, Distinctive, and Historic. 

Each book is of the same format: hard cover, all color, and 100 pages (Modern Houses is 120 pages).  And, they each sell for $25.”

http://www.wiserdesigns.com/books.html

Kentucky River Foothills Development Council, Inc. is developing the project, working with EKU and Kentucky Housing Corporation.

The Master Plan includes : The Early Learning Center is a licensed child development center that serves both the low income children, student & faculty children and is linked the College of Education as an incubator and hands on learning laboratory for its students. The Academic Service Center provide the single parents who attend local colleges and trade schools. The housing component consists of 36 two bedroom apartments  for the low income single parents making an effort to improve the lives of their children as well as their own.

http://m.richmondregister.com/news/scholar-house-to-provide-single-parents-educational-opportunities/article_97865ba6-a5df-11e5-9bfe-f393c29e14d0.html?mode=jqm

http://www.pkallsc.org/assets/files/LSCGuide-PlanningforAssessing.pdf

http://studio.eku.edu/insidelook/noel-studio-featured-learning-space-guide

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ekulibraries/albums/72157656925882974/with/21192902834/ 

To grasp the magnitude of destruction Hurricane Katrina brought upon southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, consider this: There remain people who desperately want to return home but continue to be displaced.

For nearly 10 years, that has been the case for residents of the Milne Home.

The original facility, in Gentilly, was home to 60 developmentally challenged people prior to the storm and levee failures. But like so many other people, they had to flee prior to the destruction on Aug. 29, 2005. The Milne Home residents wound up in Laurel, Mississippi, where services helping care for them continue to this day.

But by the end of the month, only a few days after the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the last Milne Home residents will return to Louisiana.

The first foursome of residents was transported April 15 to the new Milne Home, which is on a 55-acre tract in the Waldheim community near Covington. The facility has 12 residential houses, each with four individual bedrooms. There is a community center, a medical clinic, an administrative building and more, all on-site. The community has its own water and electrical systems, as well as its own roads.

The cost to build was approximately $11 million, with $6.2 million coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency via the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Additional funding came from the Milne organization and donors, according to Gary Bidne, the director of development and marketing for Alexander Milne Developmental Services.

Bidne said 48 residents will live on the new grounds in Waldheim. He said more than 100 people will be employed as a result of the build.

http://www.voice-tribune.com/featured-posts/norton-commons-school-breaks-ground/

It’s just walls right now, but construction on the new Norton Commons Elementary School has begun on schedule, and Patrick Blackburn, the principal architect on the project, says there have been no delays despite intense summer rains.

Blackburn, who has twenty years’ experience designing private and public schools, says this one posed some unique challenges. The new school had to be integrated into the new urban infrastructure of the Norton Commons community in which smaller streets, alleys and parks abound.

The school’s brick façade and window details are deliberately similar in style to the buildings in the town center. “You know it’s a public building when you look at it,” Blackburn says.    

Norton Commons Elementary posed two further architectural challenges. By design, it connects to the next door YMCA, which will share the new school’s gymnasium.

Norton Commons is also being constructed on a smaller space than most other schools in Blackburn’s experience. “It is a small site,” says Blackburn. “We had to get a variance from the Kentucky Board of Education.”

The parking lot will be smaller, but Blackburn says that will not be a problem because of the availability of street parking.

Beyond that, there are challenges to building any school. Blackburn says he has incorporated as much color as possible to make it interesting to children. Safety is also a factor in a school’s design.

“Security is a big issue now,” says Blackburn. “Most of the building is viewable from the office.”

15th District PTA President Heather Wampler says the new school is needed because the population of east Louisville has grown and is expected to continue growing. The new school will prevent crowding at other schools “so class sizes can stay at a reasonable number,” Wampler says. Norton Commons is scheduled to open for business August 2016, i.e. at the start of the next school year.

The new school will have 24 classrooms for kindergarten through fifth grade, eight early childhood classrooms, plus a music room, art room, library and computer lab. Special features include geothermal heating and cooling, solar heated water, occupancy sensors and audio enhancement in the classrooms, according to Stephanie Bateman, Jefferson County Public Schools Director of Communications.

The total cost of the building is $17,200,000, and Jefferson County’s Board of Education predicts that there will be about 400 K-5 students in the inaugural class. The school’s capacity is 600 students. Parents within Jefferson County school cluster 10 will have the option to send their children to Norton Commons. Cluster 10 includes Chancey, Goldsmith, Stopher, Middletown and Bowen elementary schools.

Jefferson County Public School’s Board was almost unanimous in voting for the erection of the new school. Board Member Diane Porter was alone in voting against it. She is on record as believing there is sufficient room at other schools.

Norton Commons Elementary may not necessarily be called “Norton Commons Elementary” when the children enter it around a year from now. The school board offered community members an opportunity to suggest school names. As of this writing, the name has not been announced, but it has been narrowed down to three choices. The school may be named after Jack Crowner, a Louisville broadcaster, or Steve Tyra, a long-time county principal. Or it may retain the name “Norton Commons.”

The N. 17th & Portland Pocket Park would transform the vacant lots at 609 N. 17th Street and 1655 & 1657 Portland Avenue into a green and welcoming natural area with seating, a drinking fountain, and a natural play area planted with native trees and plants. N. 17th & Portland will provide a place of relief from the urban environment. Elements would include:
•A relaxing seating area
•A natural play area for neighborhood children
•A stormwater catchment system redirecting rainwater from the roof of the adjacent building (1651 Portland Avenue) from the city water system
•A public drinking fountain
•An educational element explaining the catchment system and benefits of stormwater remediation
•A piece of art highlighting the movement of water

The John Grant Crabbe Main Library at Eastern Kentucky University broke that mold with the addition in 2004 of the Library Café and then in 2010 with the nationally innovative Ron and Sherrie Lou Noel Studio for Academic Creativity. Now, thanks to a new gift from the Noels, the Library will soon undergo another facelift designed to make the academic heart of the Richmond campus even more warm and inviting for all its users.

The Union, Ky., couple, whose $1 million-plus gift helped to make the Studio a reality, recently donated $250,000 toward the construction of a reading porch on the south side of the Library. Additional private funds are being sought for the project, which is expected to total approximately $500,000. “Ron and Sherrie Lou Noel have proven, time and again, their commitment to our students at EKU,” said Betina Gardner, dean of EKU Libraries. “When I express my gratitude, I speak for our students – past, present and future – who have or will benefit from the Noels’ sustained generosity. We cannot thank them enough. Donors like Ron and Sherrie Lou have such a tremendous impact on the lives of EKU students.”  Nestled among several academic, recreational, social and residential spaces that attract hundreds of passersby each day, the porch would provide an outdoor study environment for students inspired by energetic, naturally lit spaces and would even offer a safe and well-lit outdoor space for late-night study or visits. “Libraries all over are embracing outdoor spaces as venues for reading, studying, cultural events and gathering, so this is an opportunity for us to do that,” Gardner said. “Outdoor spaces are inspirational, and we have long neglected providing these spaces for our students.” Gardner also expects the space to become an “ideal venue” for evening concerts, poetry readings and other student-focused events. In addition, a refurbished lobby leading to the reading porch will reflect the look and feel of the newly renovated Research and Instruction Commons and serve as a gallery area featuring student work in rotating exhibits.

The idea for the porch, long a vision of the Noels, has its roots in some of the early designs for the Noel Studio. “They (Ron and Sherrie Lou Noel) love outdoor spaces, and they wanted the same for our students,” said Kari Martin, director of development for EKU Libraries.  Ron Noel, a 1964 Eastern graduate and retired steel industry executive, said he and his wife, also an Eastern graduate, “wanted to give back to the University and thought the best way to impact the most students was through the Library.”  As new EKU President Michael Benson indicated in his Fall Convocation address, the addition of the porch is only part of a larger plan to spruce up and enliven what is now a rather lackluster, industrial space surrounded by Crabbe Library, the Combs Building and the Weaver Building. He also unveiled preliminary plans for a pedestrian mall between the facilities. “We want to create something in this space that we can all be proud of,” Benson said at the Convocation, adding that a pedestrian mall “would say a lot about how we feel about the institution (and) will beautify even more The Campus Beautiful.”

Gifts in support of the reading porch can be made by contacting Kari Martin at 859-622-6593 or kari.martin@eku.edu. Donations can also be made online by visiting development.eku.edu and designating the gift to Outdoor Reading Porch.

http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/print-edition/2013/03/29/commercial-real-estate-awards-valley.html

http://therecordarchlou.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/st-bernadette-church-is-dedicated/

UofL Imaging Suite, Health Science Campus Building 55B, has been awarded LEED Silver!  This achievement is unique in that it’s a LEED CI (Commercial Interiors) classification – the first at  UofL and is especially significant for a small and technically challenging project.  Thanks to everyone who made this possible:

UofL Planning

• Planning Design & Construction

Architects:Lord Aeck Sargent Architects

• Lord Aeck Sargent Architects
• Voelker Blackburn Niehoff Architects

Structural:

• Senler Campbell

MEP

• Staggs & Fisher

Commissioning Agent

• Facility Commissioning Group

Construction

• Messer Construction

Designed to compliment the sloping site, the building  steps down in two directions via interior & exterior ramps. The two wings surround and protect the outdoor play areas. The 15,000 s.f. facility has an administrative office area, six classrooms ranging from infants to after-school care, observation rooms for students in KSU’s Early Childhood Education Program, a full-service kitchen, and a multi-purpose room for indoor play and group activities.
Client:
Kentucky State University
Frankfort, KY
Scope:
$3,054,582

Project Team:
MEP Engineers: Biagi, Chance, Cummins, London & Titzer, Inc.

Structural: BFMJ, Inc.

Site/Civil: Carman

Interior Design: Swope Design Group

The complex shall be designed with a non-institutional aesthetic. The site shall include multiple 4-bedroom homes that shall house no more than 4 women per home. 48 beds shall be licensed as Independent Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled (ICF-MR DD) and 22 beds will be licensed for Assisted Living residents. The complex shall also include, but not be limited to, space for administrative, dining, kitchen, medical, laundry, beauty, storage, parking, walkways, and all associated infrastructure. The result will be an outstanding facility benefiting the ladies and helping them reach their full potential.

Upon accomplishing this, Milne Home is one step closer to achieving their goal of thriving for the next hundred years.

Scope:$11,000,000

Project Team:

VBNA/Broadmoor Group