Cabbage Patch - has setback - March 1, 2006

Expansion plan's rejection appealed

Cabbage Patch Settlement House's $3.5 million expansion proposal has been rejected as not good for the neighborhood, but Cabbage Patch isn't giving up.

A neighborhood architectural committee ruled last month that the plan would hurt Old Louisville's historic-preservation efforts. Now, the nonprofit Christian social-service agency has appealed to the Louisville Metro Landmarks Commission.

Cabbage Patch operates in two converted houses at 1413 S. Sixth St., serving about 1,100 children and families. It wants to build a 15,000-square-foot underground structure on its property with playground space on top of it. It also wants to convert an adjacent house for use.

Old Louisville's architectural-review committee a group affiliated with the landmarks commission rejected the plan 4-2, saying it would not comply with historic-preservation guidelines. Cabbage Patch officials say they received official notice of the decision last week and have appealed it.

The proposed underground space, to be located behind the Sixth Street buildings, would give Cabbage Patch six new multipurpose rooms, a new classroom and an office.

The project also would include renovations to Cabbage Patch's gymnasium and creation of above-ground facilities next to the gym for storage, restrooms, a classroom and a small multipurpose room.

Members of the architectural review committee said construction of the underground structure and new above-ground breezeway connections, along with dissolving the property lines between the existing houses, would make it virtually impossible to change the properties back to residential homes.

Michael Mawood , a Sixth Street resident, real-estate broker and longtime committee member, said he's also afraid of the precedent such a project would set.

"I asked the question, and I don't think anyone ever answered me, 'If you move someday, would someone be able to plant an oak tree back there?'" said Mawood. "I don't think so ... little things could grow there, but nothing large, because 2 feet down there'd be a concrete slab.

"We already know what happened on First Street, with the Safe Place property. Those buildings were connected and it took two years to sell it. Two years," he added. "It's nothing personal. ... I take this seriously, and I just don't think this plan meets the guidelines."

In 2002, The YMCA Safe Place Services center relocated from First Street to a larger building on Crittenden Drive near Eastern Parkway.

The Rev. J. Tracy Holladay , Cabbage Patch's longtime executive director, said the proposed expansion is the latest of three different proposals the group has brought to the neighborhood over the past several years to address various concerns.

Holladay acknowledged the committee still could have some architectural concerns. But he said he was growing frustrated over what he called "other issues creeping into the mix."

Among those issues, Holladay said, are questions about the number of children the agency serves and the traffic congestion that some members say is created along Sixth Street after school.

"Certainly those things have been mentioned and discussed, but are those appropriate concerns for the committee? I would say not," Holladay said. "We will have to go before the Board of Zoning Adjustment for a conditional-use permit and that's where all that gets talked about."

Cabbage Patch was founded in 1911 and was near Ninth and Hill streets before relocating to Old Louisville in 1929.

STAFF MAP BY STEVE DURBIN THAT SHOWS THE LOCATION OF CABBAGE PATCH SETTLEMENT HOUSE (SEE LIBRARY MICROFILM OR LIBRARY KIOSK PDF PAGES)

More information....click on link

Old Louisville Journal contains additional information in the February 2006 issue.

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