Louisville Magazine

MAY 2012

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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Bowman Field Administration Building, 2815 Taylorsville Road "Te building was designed by Louisville architect William S. Arrasmith in 1935 and was funded as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) federal relief program. Te firm of Wischmeyer and Arrasmith was nationally renowned for transportation-related projects, especially the streamlined Art Moderne Greyhound bus terminals. Unfortunately, Louisville's wonderful Greyhound station on Broadway was demolished in the 1970s. Tis building's design is what one would expect of the period, with its symmetrical composition and central block flanked by two lower wings, since Arrasmith was trying to reduce classical elements to their purest form. But somewhat unexpectedly, he also mixes in Colonial Revival elements like the tall, round arch casement windows and small octagonal windows on the third level. Te doorways' fluted and molded limestone surrounds are fairly typical of the 1930s Art Moderne style, as is the elliptical sign with 'Bowman Field' in neon. I really love Arrasmith details, like the winged-propeller motif on the façade and an idiosyncratic design element that he devised for the interior railing around the mezzanine — a winged- sun disc accompanied by a rising-air motif and stylized airplane struts." &LW;\ +DOO : -HƗHUVRQ 6W Te structure was designed by architect John Andrewartha and completed in the early 1870s. "City Hall exemplifies the boisterousness, the energy, the civic pride and the growth of our community post Civil War. After the war, much of the infrastructure of the South was destroyed. Louisville's was intact. It prospered — boomed — during the Reconstruction era. Ostensibly, this is a classical building. It's sort of a Greek temple shoved up against an Italian palazzo, and with its Second Empire tower it's a bizarre combination of architectural elements. It has the most unusual sculptural program of any public building in the country; I'm sure of that. Te pediment shows the front of a locomotive. On its right-hand side you have deciduous trees representing the North, and on the left you have a palm tree — showing you the link between the North and the South. Ten you have these major decorative elements: heads of horses, pigs and cows. It's like going from classical to Cracker Barrel." [62] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.12

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