Louisville Magazine

MAR 2013

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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& Architecture design Freedom Riders By Jon Lee Cope Photos by Ted Tarquinio 112 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 3.13 T he pergola-style bus depot that welcomes you into Freedom Park on the University of Louisville campus does more than ofer those who take the TARC a bit of shelter; it is an architectural attempt to balance history. In talking to David Reed, the senior vice president of the architecture and engineering frm QK4, who collaborated on the design with architect Eric Rowland, it���s clear that when U of L���s Kathleen Smith, the university���s lead on this project, and her boss, president James Ramsey, came to QK4 in 2008, the university wanted to change the way our community looks at its past. On that site in 1895, at what is now Tird Street and Brandeis Avenue, a group of ladies decided to erect a 70-foot-tall monument to the soldiers who had sacrifced their all for the Confederacy. As the world changed, the monument became a source of controversy; many felt it should be dismantled and forever laid to rest. But rather than tear down the past, the school looked to build a nearby structure that would rise above it and allow for a broader historical perspective. Te $1.8-million project was to be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with grants from the Federal Highway Administration. Te structure could tell another history, become a teaching tool and a monument to an entirely diferent type of courage. Te western cedar timber and galvanized steel edifce features glass tributes to nine Louisvillians who worked on behalf of civil rights (see opposite page). Around the perimeter are 10 polycarbonate pylons inscribed with a history of the civil-rights movement in Louisville. Five of the posts tell the story of race in the city before the Civil War and the remaining fve tell of the city���s history after emancipation. Te late Blaine Hudson, then the dean of the U of L���s College of Arts and Sciences, wrote the timeline, and it is the narrative of Louisville���s transition from slavery to freedom. Te structure brings together the present and past, ofering perspective and, one hopes, forgiveness. But its beauty lies in its very practicality. It is an open space, a place of safety with an eye toward heading home. In the evenings, the lighting is comforting and warm. It is the place where students gather to make their way to basketball games on the free shuttles that take them to the arena, and when they are assembled, this monumental depot serves as a reminder to all young people of those who sacrifced before them and, perhaps, also reminds them of a time when a seat on the bus was not so easily attained.

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