Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/300717
5.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5 9 The Sheppard Square public- housing complex gained a bad reputation as it aged — crime, drugs, gangs. Now that it's demolished, the goal is to build a better neighborhood. Former and current residents wonder: Can it happen? By Anne Marshall Photos by Aaron Kingsbury OUR PLACE E very day after school, a young girl walked up the 14 stairs to her living room. It felt like Jesus watched her every step, with so many framed photos of him on the walls. Maybe that's why this place felt so safe. His almighty presence certainly helped. So did her mom cooking in the kitchen just of the living room or playing their piano. Te stur- dy, glazed tile walls — a cousin to traditional red brick — had a brute strength of their own, sealing out the world. In the summer that was a curse. Tey'd hold in so much heat, air thickened to nectar. Walls dripped sweat. So she would tear down those 14 stairs and head outside, to the little court- yards that connected clusters of tan, boxy buildings, 36 total. From above, the 16.5 acres containing Sheppard Square looked a bit like a giant pickup truck plopped just south of Broadway. Te girl's building sat near the rear tire, near Hancock Street. A lot of stuf started on the street. Stuf she shouldn't have seen. Tings like a pregnant woman running from her boyfriend as he chased her with a gun. Every time he squeezed the trigger, his whole body bounced back. Once, she saw a bullet paralyze a man. Te frst drawing she ever proudly presented to her mother showed a woman shooting up with a needle. "Why'd you draw that?" her mother asked, concerned. Te girl had seen syringes near the playground. She knew what they were for. In 10th grade, the girl moved away, 39 blocks west to a neighborhood flled with big houses and African-American families who expected college for their children, children like her. She grew up and became a bank manager, minister too. She credits that move with arranging a more stable course for her life. But she eulogizes Sheppard Square, demolished in 2012, with love. She can almost still hear stereo speakers playing Al Green's "Love and Happiness" on repeat. In the summer, her alarm clock was laughter, the sound of children playing. No strangers at Sheppard Square — she knew everybody. Everybody knew everybody. You knew the kid punching the air as he danced down Hancock Street, chant- ing his mantra: "I got my hands cocked on Hancock." Tat boy's now a man in his 30s. He stands on the corner of Clay and Jacob, a Top: The old Sheppard Square public-housing complex in the 1950s. Below: The frst block of new buildings. Courtesy of Louisville Metro Housing Authority 58-63 Shepard SQ.indd 59 4/21/14 12:42 PM