Home » Woodford Forward hosting redevelopment panel for downtown Versailles

Woodford Forward hosting redevelopment panel for downtown Versailles

Versailles, Ky. – A civic and business group in Versailles, Ky., will host a public forum to discuss redevelopment, infill and placemaking issues for the downtown and surrounding areas.

Woodford Forward is a group of citizens and business owners that advocate for innovative policies that promote the highest  and best use of urban land and the agricultural use of productive farmland throughout Woodford County.

As part of its community education and outreach work on land use issues, Woodford Forward has partnered with Bullhorn Creative on Physical Education Part II A Discussion on Urban Development in the Bluegrass, the second in a series of panel discussions on urban revitalization. Forum panelists will present their experiences with prior successful projects and initiatives that focused on the revitalization of downtown environments and placemaking. The forum provides an opportunity for citizens to see and hear presentations from a panel of experts in urban planning, landscape architecture, and placemaking, as well as local officials.

Panelists at Physical Education Part II include urban designer Louis Johnson from Gresham, Smith and Partners in Louisville, S tan Harvey,  the director of the Urban Design & Planning practice at Lord, Aeck & Sargent in Lexington, Design Principal Andy Knight from MKSK in Lexington, Holly Wiedemann, founding principal and President of AU Associates, Richard Young from the North Limestone Community Development Corporation, and Kyle Fannin from Spark Versailles.

The public forum will be held on Sept. 30 at the Safe Harbor Academy at 134 Macey Avenue in Downtown Versailles. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m. and the panel discussion will begin at 6 p.m.

This education and outreach event was planned in response to a recent Woodford County community survey that was completed by The Matrix Group and sponsored by Woodford Forward. The top priority of the survey results was redeveloping vacant land and property within the urban areas.

“Revitalizing our urban cores in Versailles and Midway is the key to making Woodford County a vibrant destination for young professionals, families, retirees and entrepreneurs to live, work and locate businesses here. This will be a primary focus of our organization during the next year,” said Woodford Forward CEO Billy F. Van Pelt, II.

Woodford Forward has posted the survey results on its web site, www.woodfordforward.org. The public is encouraged to attend the event.

Those who wish to attend can RSVP here.

Read more about Physical Education, Bullhorn’s ongoing project here.