Drivers on Nicholasville Road won’t be missing the entrance to the Southland Drive corridor from now on.
Plans for a gateway marker for Southland Drive had been in the discussion phase for some time, but now they’ve finally come to fruition – thanks in part to a $5,000 grant from the city’s corridors commission, private sector funding, and a retro-influenced look courtesy University of Kentucky third year landscape architecture student Charlie Hall.
"This is my design, which is super weird for me to say because I never thought that one of my designs would be implemented this soon," he tells onlookers at the unveiling.
He explains the guitar fretboard-inspired background, a reference to the cluster of music shops in the area.
The sign is the latest example of corridor designers teaming up with UK – they’re also working on what’s called a “pop-up” public space to debut next year – as the area undergoes a renaissance of sorts.
"A lot of the empty spaces have filled up. We've got new buildings in a couple places that have kind of taken care of some areas that didn't have anything in it," Southland Association President Hilary Baumann says. "I think there's a little bit of a new and exciting vibe going on over here."
Developed as a strip mall in the 1950s, Southland once marked the edge of town. Today, Baumann says it’s one of the most highly-concentrated spots for local businesses in the city.
Update 12-14-16 - The following businesses donated time, materials, and expertise to the project: Fascination Design, H.E. Parmer Co., EHO Laser, TREC Construction, Baptist Health, CMC MMI, Harrod Concrete, Vulcan Material Co., Wilson Brother’s Rental, and Bryant’s Rent.