Layla George & Mayor Greenberg on the Belvedere rebirth

Hey guys, it's Ryan. I want to tell you about my new pastime, Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has been around for over a decade delivering the most fun you can have online. Play social casino style games for free, anytime, anywhere. So sign up at chumbacino.com. No purchase necessary. PGW. Boy, we're prohibited by loss. In terms and conditions, 21 plus. It looks like our... Belvedere is getting a little more than a facelift. It is grand. The plans announced earlier today. Project Executive Layla George is with us. Hello, Layla. Hello. And I do believe the mayor of the city of Louisville is nearby too. Hello, Craig Greenberg. Hey, Terry, how are you? The images are everywhere, and I think their initial reviews are fantastic. Layla, tell me about the process of getting us here to today. Well, it's been a lot of community input over the last year, year and a half, finding out what people want to do and see on site. And I think you can see that reflected in the new design. It's much stronger as a result of all the community input. People wanted a greener belvedere with more shade and trees. They wanted a better connection to the river, which you can see in the new design. And they wanted a place to gather for public events. So I think all of that has been delivered overwhelmingly from... this team. The images are stunning. I just think it's really a brilliant idea. Just the depth of the, is it an amphitheater? What do you call on that performance area? A pavilion for now. And Layla, you noted that there's more trees coming. Mayor, well, all three of us have grown up here. That's something that's always, we've always needed, is more tree canopy. So that's even going to add to this project. But Mayor, we've had so many great festivals and things on the Belvedere over the last half century. What happens to people who were normally booked there? Do we have a spot for them to go while the construction happens? Yeah, so we'll start construction this fall. It'll start in the garage. And then the Belvedere itself. we'll keep open through Thunder Over Louisville and Derby of 27. And then it will be closed. So there'll be two Thunder Over Louisville's that don't have a Belvedere, but the Thunder Over Louisville's, of course, will proceed. And we will reopen the Belvedere, the design that we released today. That will be open before Thunder Over Louisville in 2030. And so really, you know, talking about the festivals that are there, right now the Belvedere is primarily used five days a year. for thunder over louisville and the four days of labor day weekend when we have world fest and we have another hundred plus thousand people come for that amazing community festivity so thunder over louisville you know we've been working with 30 festival there'll be plenty other places for folks to watch the air show and the fireworks we're working on another location for world fest in 27 and 28 and 29 and so we'll make sure that that continues the goal with this project is that Those five days and those festivals can really be successful on the Belvedere. And then the other 360 days of the year.

There's something for everyone. There are reasons to come downtown. There are reasons to come to the Belvedere, whether you're a Louisville resident or a visitor, and that's what this design about. It has the pavilion that we mentioned, which can have, whether it's the Louisville Orchestra, whether it's yoga classes or other great performances. It's going to have a children's play area and water park. There's going to be lots of things to do, and it's going to be incredibly well programmed so that people will have reason to come back time and time again to use the Belvedere. That's Louisville's Mayor Craig Greenberg. Layla George is also whether she's project executive on this reimagined Belvedere. So Layla, how many creative minds were involved in this new? There are a lot of people, right? A lot of chefs in the kitchen. Yeah, more people than it takes to change a light bulb, Terry. It was a lot. I mean, it's, you know, a lot of people on the project team who were involved, mostly local. We've got people at K&BA architects who have been amazing. We've got Wittenberg Construction involved, PLC management. Of course, people from the mayor's office, not to mention the mayor himself. I do think he's uniquely qualified to lead this. We have a mayor with experience in hospitality. And this is really designing a park through that lens of hospitality. What is going to get people coming? How are they going to feel? And what's going to make them come back year after year? And then a question for both of you, how do we raise the money? I know that someone's going to have to be private. So where are we headed with that? Yeah, so the vast majority of the funds are coming from public sources, thanks to the Kentucky General Assembly and their investment in downtown Louisville over the last two sessions. That will fund a significant amount of the needed infrastructure improvements because most of the money, while the pictures are all the fun stuff that we're going to all love, most of the money is actually going to repair the 2000 space parking garage that the Belvedere sits on top of as well as the overlook over the I-64. We need this piece of infrastructure. downtown's largest garage to stop crumbling and be there for the next generations. So it's a combination of federal, state, and local funds. And then right now we're working on raising some additional philanthropic dollars that will round it all out. And I would think the images that you guys released today are really going to be helpful. It's one thing to talk about a vision, quite another to show it, right, Leila? Absolutely. And people who have seen it are really excited about the potential there. And I think it's going to be a really attractive design that people want to be a part of. Okay. One thing I wanted to add, you and I talk about safety a lot when we're having conversations on air. And this project was designed with safety in mind that people can feel safe and be safe. all the time that it's open day or night. You'll see a lot of lights in these images. That's to ensure safety. It's also part of the design element. So those are going to be very functional. There are going to be light shows along with sound shows that happen every day, whether it's every day to play the birthday song, which was written right here in Louisville by the Hill Sisters or other fun things we have in store. There's going to be a reason to be at the Belvedere every day. Well, there was a police substation. I mean, a small little police place at one time, I think maybe in the 1980s or so.

Are we redoing that or is that not going to be a factor? No, it'll be a combination of ambassadors during the day, security overnight, security cameras, and then a lot of positive activity that can really ensure people feel safe. Very good. Mayor, about that parking garage, we're all talking about this Humana redo in the additional buildings that are going on here. That's all part of this as well, isn't it? It is. The Humana Tower. I'm glad you mentioned it's directly across the street. and the plans for that are to become a 1,000-room convention center hotel and they will use this parking garage as part of to satisfy part of their parking needs for the hotel directly across the street because the Humata Tower does not have a significant garage attached to it so it serves that it will serve the Kentucky Center it will serve even when there are big events at the Yonge Center this this garage is critically important to support all of the other development that's going on downtown And so this is like re-bolstering that garage. Well, I've seen it, too. We go to things at the Kentucky. Right. If you go in there right now, it looks like you're walking through Mammoth Cave. There are things coming out of the ceilings that look like stalactites, and that's not good. Right. Okay, so the garage project gets underway pretty soon. And then you said by 2030, this will all be wrapped up, we hope? That's the plan. Layla, outstanding. I know you've been working on this project for a year and a half, and it's been through various phases. And so I think what was presented today is really, really has the wow factor you guys are seeking. Great. I think so, too. I mean, we're thrilled to finally release that. And so far, everything I've heard has been positive, too. Wishing you both the best of luck. We're all looking forward to just getting our new Belvedere, new playground for the city. Thanks, Terry. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Leila. Hey, it's Ryan Sechrest here, and I have discovered a fun to escape from the daily grind Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has hundreds of social casino-style games. It's all free to play anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So get to chumbacasino.com. No purchase necessary. VGW. Boy, we're prohibited by loss. See, terms and conditions, 21 plus.