Celebrating Buechel Park Baptist Church

Our next Bon Air Neighborhood General Membership meeting will be this coming Monday, September 30, 2019 at 6:30 pm in that Buechel Park Baptist Church's "Fellowship Hall."  The church is at 2403 Hikes Lane.

Buechel Park has some memory for me.  My son was part of Troop 610 that had met at this church, and my wife worked in the church's Parent's Day Out program for a number of years, but my most cherished memory was the time we actually went to church there.

A bad storm had knocked out one Sunday in St Matthews--where we had been going to church and our church was cancelled.  We decided that we would check out Buechel Park on this Sunday. The church that we had been going to put song lyrics on the screen.   When it was time to sing the song leader said,

                    Please turn in your hymnals to . . .  

My son whispered to me:

                     Dad, what is a hymnal?

I had to chuckle and feel old and maybe slightly neglectful in educating my son, as the hymnal is (derived from the Greek  Hymnos for songs) one of those terms like 900-numbers that does not have meaning to many people anymore. 

Nevertheless, Buechel Park Baptist as an institution has been in the Buechel Hikes Point area since the 1920's and has been on its present site since 1958.

It is a part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (as opposed to the Southern Baptist Convention). It severed ties with the SBC in 2001.  It is safe to say that you will find progressive thinking at this church including women in ministry.

The church's current pastor is the Reverend Erica Whittaker, who has definitely made some attempts to reach out into the community, especially with her Bible Studies at Krazy Dave's. 

The church has long been a site for senior activities. They have hosted senior nutrition and senior fitness activities.  We hope to give them a minute or two to plug what they are doing and what they have to offer the community at our meeting. 

Tomorrow, (September 28,2019), they will have an arts and crafts fair from 10am to 3pm if you wish to go and get your decorations for the holidays.

One last note, the church has a huge parking lot to park your car and I hope that you come to the Bon Air Membership meeting, which again will be Monday, September 30, 2019 at 6:30 pm.
 

Another Pedestrian Killed on Bardstown Rd. What Are the Options?

It was sad to see that another pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Bardstown Road and Goldsmith Lane just before midnight last night.   From the pictures I have copied from the TV station websites, it looks like the female pedestrian pushing a two-wheel cart was killed on the southbound side.  The first picture is from WDRB.

The second picture is from WAVE3.

The basic facts are that the pedestrian was in a crosswalk when she was hit.   Police were out to determine who had the right of way.

A fatality happens at this intersection every few years.  I am frankly surprised that it does not happen more often for the following reasons:
1)  It is state highway with a speed limit of 45 mph at this intersection.
2) It has a high flow of pedestrians at rush hours
3) It takes a pedestrian a significant time to cross.

I otherwise have had some near misses turning off of Goldsmith northbound onto Bardstown when taking my son to school and going to work.  There have been numerous pedestrians walking in the crosswalks when I have been trying to turn right.

I think that the solutions are state government solutions since it is a state highway.

 My first thought is that a pedestrian bridge would be a good thing, but changing the speed limit and maybe a lane diet would be helpful.

Otherwise, I will be solemn as I go through this intersection this morning. 

A Letter to the Bon Air Neighborhood

(A letter we hope to distribute soon in the neighborhood/but feel free to share it with your neighbors )

Dear Bon Air Resident

The Bon Air Neighborhood Association (BANA) was formed in 2008 as a response to crimes against women in our area.  However, we have had many, positive accomplishments including:

• The magnificent Bardstown Road mural in the Bardstown Rd/I-264 underpass,
• The Bon Air streetlight pole signs that announce the neighborhood
• The four-way stop at Goldsmith Lane/Ada Lane/Del Rio Place
• The bike lanes on Goldsmith Lane.

We also have been leading advocates for the neighborhood including:

• Leading in the effort to stop a methadone clinic from opening in Bardstown Square and
• Putting pressure on the owners of the Economy Inn to clean up the situation.
• Three additional, yearly opportunities for residents to have direct Q and A with our Metro Council representative and LMPD.

We are proud of our excellent working relationship with our Metro Council representative. 

Our current focus is development.  We are pursuing an arts development strategy and the creation of a business association. The arts development strategy includes

• The building of a performance stage in Farnsley Park
• The creation of an art hall in the Bon Air Library
• Public art installations that include grand statuary.

We are excited about the interest in the arts strategy and the business organization is gaining momentum.  

However, we need your support by being a member of the organization.  Our annual membership dues are $20.00.  This helps pay for insurance, our post office box, our annual registration with the state of Kentucky, and mailing fees.  You can mail your membership payment to our post office box at  PO 34262 Louisville, KY 40231 or bring it to our monthly meeting at the Bon Air Library, the second Mondays at 6:30 pm.

You can also support us by becoming active with us by not merely being a member but also a board member.  The more people who are involved, the more effective the Bon Air Neighborhood Association will become.

If you need to see what we do first, you can like us on Facebook.  We post much of what we do on our Facebook page.  You can also go to our website at www.bon-air.org.  Regardless, we hope we see you at our next meeting as we seek to make our neighborhood a great place to live and raise families.

Best,

Dave Houvenagle, President

Bon Air Neighborhood Association

A 09-11-01 Bon Air Memory: It Got Awfully Quiet

I have seen numerous posts online, and I have heard different radio people (Terry Meiners being one of them) talk about their memories of September 11, 2001. I suppose I would make one more, and that was air traffic was shut down . . . including Bowman Field.

Bowman Field is a robust small plane airport, especially on the day of Thunder over Louisville. Many antique airplanes and squadrons stage for their appearances over the river out of Bowman.

On any given day planes take off and land in the southern flight path over Bon Air.  Sometimes there is nothing more annoying than a private jet taking off early in the morning.  

However, on 9/11/01 when the FAA ordered all planes to land and stay grounded, things were quiet for several days.  I remember that when there was a squadron of military helicopters flying over the area.  My wife and I came out to see what was happening. 

After a few days the flight ban was lifted and then planes started flying again.  But for those few days, the skies were quiet over Bon Air.  

  

Bon Air Crime Analysis for August, 2019: It got a little more real.

This is an analysis for August, 2019 based on data posted by the Louisville Metro Police Department at and website website at https://data.louisvilleky.gov/dataset/crime-reports/resource/6d81fdf8-27e7-41ac-9ae4-1bfd8730f002 

It is a Microsoft Excel file that requires just a touch of manipulation and sorting

As usual it includes the crimes reported within the boundaries of the historical Bon Air Neighborhood as defined:
1) Bardstown Road on the West  
2) Hikes Lane on the South
3) Furman Blvd on the East and
4) Taylorsville Rd and the Watterson Expressway on the North. 

Crime was up from July by 20.75 percent. There were 63 police reports in the Bon Air Neighborhood. There were 41 reports in the 40218 zip code portion and 22 reports in the 40220 zip code portion.  That is compared to 31 reports for July in the 40218 portion and 21 reports in the 40220 portion. However, the severity of the types of crime in the 40220 seemed to be of an increased nature.


I have had a few emails about the issues at Fureen and Sharon Circle. Apparently there was a shooting at both Fureen and Lisbon Ln that was outside of the observation period. I have word from Officer McMillian that they have made arrests,

But Officer McMillian also gave a "stern" warning for neighbors not to let their guard down:

He said,  "Juveniles tend not to stay incarcerated very long prior to adjudication and they may even be back home almost immediately. Implore neighbors to secure vehicles, glove boxes and firearms."                 

In terms of breakdowns overall The most common crime in the overall neighborhood for the month was:

• Assaults= 12
• Theft/Larcenies=9
• Burglaries= 6
• Vandalism=6
• Drug/Alcohol =6
• Fraud = 5
• Vehicle Break-ins=5
• Motor Vehicle thefts=2

In terms of areas of police reports the breakdown was as follows by blocks:

• 3300 Bardstown Rd/2200 Goldsmith Lane =12
• 3600 Green Meadows=7
• Fureen Drive/Sharon Circle= 5
• Doreen Way = 4
• 3500 Brockton Lane = 3
• 3500 Terrier Lane =3

In terms of breakdowns by the zip codes the following was noted:

In terms of the 40218 zip code area . . .

All of the motor vehicle thefts and break-ins took place in the 40218 area.  Four of the break-ins took place in the Sharon Circle/Fureen Drive area, which has been unusual for that area.

Furthermore, it serves to note that the Sharon Circle/Fureen Drive also had a robbery report that was at about the same time as one of the vehicle break-in reports.

The drug charges were all on Green Meadows Drive in the apartment complex.

In terms of the 40220 area

Nine of the 12 assault reports took place in the 40220 area (by blocks).

2900 Kings Bridge Rd.

3000 Hikes Ln (x 2)

3100 Doreen Way (x4)

3500 Brockton Ln 3600 Johnston Way.

The burglaries took place in the following areas\blocks:

3000, Nadina Drive 3000 Radiance Rd 3100 Commander Dr 3300 Radiance Rd.

I want to echo my quote of Officer McMillian from earlier.  Crime prevention works.  Lock cars.  Do not leave valuables or firearms in them.  Lock houses. Close blinds.

It is hard to say if some of the problem is school being in session.  If crime stays at a higher rate for September, it may very well be related to the influx of adolescents for school.

We will be having a representative from LMPD at the General Membership meeting at Buechel Park Baptist Church, 2403 Hikes Lane, Monday, September 30, 2019 at 6:30 pm.  That is the fifth Monday and we hope that many more can come because it is a type of weekday when organizations usually do not have meetings.

Bon Air . . . Future Setting for Storage Wars Kentucky

There is really no quasi-tasteful sarcastic remark that can be made here, self-storage facilities are increasing in density in an approximately four mile radius in and around the Bon Air Neighborhood.

The one that sticks out the most is the self storage in the old Bardstown Centre office building. I cannot miss it when I get my Starbucks or my Mexican Food fix at El Caporal. 

The latest is the one on the old Rose Bowl site off Goldsmith Lane.

We have been made aware of its coming for about two years.  

When you go down Old Bardstown Road you see the two Public Storage units. One of them used to be the "502 Storage" facility.   

Go further down back on the Buechel Bypass/Bardstown Road between Fegenbush Lane and Watterson Trail and what are the new construction projects?  That's right two more self-storage facilities.  

R. Christian Sonne (Sonne, R (2013) Self Storage Economics The Appraisal Journal.)  noted that the number of storage facilities in the United States have more than doubled  from 23,972 facilities in 1992 to 50,048 in 2011.  It is also a relatively stable real estate sector and demand has grown with supply as Sonne said, "Even while supply doubled, national occupancy ranged from 82.9% to 89.4%, with an average of 86.72%."   It appears to be a stable type of investment that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and other investors can depend on. 

Despite its dependability as a stable investment, not all neighborhoods want them.  In a simple Google search there are various neighborhood groups throughout the US who do not want these facilities as a foreseen drain on property values and a detriment to aesthetics. 

In a grand sense, while I would have preferred the bowling alley to be restored, or an office building to be built, or Sullivan University to have purchased that land and expanded its programs on that site,  economics are economics, and it just does not seem to fit anyone's current program plan, or agenda.  

Within its capability, the local government and chamber of commerce generally have a plan to create an economic engine with the infrastructure, existing institutions, and other amenities that makes land attractive for the desired development.  Often it compounds or builds on what is there.   The University of Louisville has been an instrument of economic development.  

For instance, in James Ramsey's day, U of L (especially the Medical School) was supposed to be an economic driver through the Nucleus Innovation Center in which they were going to grow the medical sector in Louisville (go figure that the Nucleus website has not been updated since 2017).   

Earlier in the 1940's and 1950's U of L was used start the Louisville Medical Center. Jewish Hospital was coaxed downtown to be a teaching hospital for the Med School.  At its zenith in the late 1980's the Med Center had six hospitals. 

Anyway, in today's situation, the bowling alley site has been a reputed site of a homeless camp and a new GoStoreIt site is a secure improvement.and should encourage those parties to return to the available services downtown.  I just hope that the other land speculator who wanted to put a lower cost chain hotel across from where the storage facility is being built continues to be discouraged from building. 

This is where I plug in that the Bon Air Neighborhood Association seeks to guide development in the neighborhood. .We want to have development plan that improves the liability of the neighborhood. Our art development strategy aims to beautify and makes the neighborhood a destination in addition to enhancing the art economy in Louisville.

But maybe if the producers of Storage Wars are looking for new places to shoot episodes, Bon Air could be a great location. 

Olá (That's Portuguese for Hello) Lisbon Lane

It has been a minute since I have been in the frame to post and with a day off I thought I would finish the last of the streets that had not the distribution of handbills and that was Lisbon Lane.

Other than the usual stirring of dogs and risking waiting up night shift workers, I was going to stay that it would have been an uneventful event but I had a most interesting conversation with Patsy who told me about her website www.hisreturn.org.  (I spared her my memories of reading Bass, Boettcher, Fuller, Hoekema, Fuller, Ladd, Ryrie and Walvoord 30 years ago . . . and I spared asking her about Harold Camping.)  Anyway, it is a website focused on Christ's return. I must compliment Patsy on her religious fervor.

I will thank the Bon Air Board members for taking different streets to divide up the tasks. Our hope is that people will follow our page and the blog to learn what is going on the neighborhood and what the organization is doing.

We hope that you will be come a member.  Our annual dues are $20.00 that helps pay for the organization maintenance costs of a mailbox, website, annual state filing fees and liability insurance for the organization among other incidental operating costs.  If we have 50 dues-paying members we essentially cover the costs.

We advocate for the neighborhood and we seek to improve the neighborhood through reasonable development, a bigger bundle of amenities and beautification.  We want this to be a neighborhood that attracts home buyers. . 

As said elsewhere in this blog, our continued development focus is that of art development. We are primarily focused on building a stage in Farnsley Park, but our other ambitions include an art hall in the Bon Air Library and installations of public art.

We are also interested in hearing from you and what you are interested in. We seek to be responsive to neighborhood concerns and be an effective conduit between the neighborhood and Metro Government.

Our next two events are:
1) Our next board meeting on Monday, September 9 at 6:30 pm in the Bon Air Library and
2) Our Membership Lite meeting on Monday, September 30, 2019 (The 5th Monday) at Buechel Park Baptist Church. (I am excited about that one) Where Brent Ackerson or a representative will have Q and A and a representative from LMPD will also be present to answer questions.