...Bank Ballpark with the Lexington Legends. Professional baseball has always been a part of Lexington's history since the late 1800s, but the two professional teams, the Lexington Hustlers and the Colts, disbanded in 1954. In an effort led by Allen Stein, the Lexington Legends were born and brought professional baseball back to Lexington. In 2005, the team was purchased by the Shea family, and currently Andy Shea is the president and CEO of the Lexington Legends. So we'll take a look at the ballpark, some upgrades that have been made to the stadium, and hear about some efforts that the legends participate in throughout the community in today's council comments. That ain't bad. Hello, I'm First District Councilman James Brown. I'm here today with Lexington Legends President and CEO Andy Shea. Andy, how long have you been with the Lexington Legends? I've been here for a little over 12 years. I moved to Lexington in January of 2005. Went to college at Boston College and moved down here a few months later, and this is my home. That's good to hear. I think your story is interesting, Andy, because when you first came to the Legends, you kind of started from the bottom and worked your way to the top. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, there were plenty of days out there where I was working at the parking lot and getting yelled at people or going door-to-door selling season tickets. where I was wondering what the heck I was doing 650 miles away from anyone else that I knew, let alone from my home and family. But it's turned into home, and I absolutely love the Lexington Legends. I love what we do here, and I love who we are in the community. Hey, I'll speak for a lot of people in Lexington and a lot of people in the 1st District. We love the Legends, too. I know, don't ask me why, but I was taking a tour of the facility and happened to see a picture of a mascot on the door of the girls' bathroom, and I think somebody told me that was you back in 2005. That was me. Everyone does everything. And it was funny. We completely renovated the women's restrooms in the concourse this year and they look absolutely beautiful, clean, bright, very just open. And the one thing that I said to the interior designer was that picture stays because I love that picture of me from 2005. And it's just kind of a reminder that, again, everyone does everything. And when you're the shorter one of the two lowest people on the totem pole, you've got to be peewee because the tall guy is going to be big L. Yeah, I know the kids love big L. What we'll do today is we'll take a look at some of the upgrades that Andy and his team have made to the stadium. We'll talk about some of the upcoming events and some of the work that the legends and Andy is doing in the community. All right, Andy, I want to touch base on another aspect of the legends. I know it's good family fun and good place where families come and have a good time and watch a baseball game, but you also have a big economic impact on Lexington and the First District. How many people do you employ here at the Legends? We've got roughly 25 year-round 12-month employees full-time, and then seasonal between internships, food and beverage, concessions, parking tenants, ticket takers, box office, AV, you name it. It gets up to about 250 during the season. That's a lot of jobs. That's a lot of opportunities for people to experience and develop workforce experience in a field that's not that common. I know being the only professional sports team in Lexington, that's a unique opportunity. Absolutely. And it's someone for all walks of life, too. I mean, we have 16-year-olds here that are either bat boys or maybe helping out here and there with food and beverage and concessions items. Then we have retirees that are here that are ushers and want to have something to do and be around the ballpark and everything. We have several people that come right over from Lexmark after work to continue the day and be around the ballpark. And then, of course, the job readiness program and the development. I mean, that's key, being able to see people that were former legends, interns or employees that work for the Dolphins, that work for the Tennessee Titans, that work for the Sacramento Rivercats. And that's a real source of pride for us that, you know, they started in Lexington and grew from there. Yeah, that's exciting. I know your location also plays a key part in how attractive it is to the city. It's on North Broadway, one of the main corridors into the city, and I think it's one of the things that people look forward to seeing when they come into town. You've got this big grand ball field that sits to the right of North Broadway. The All-Star Game, what's the league called? Is it single A? We're the South Atlantic League, yep, single A. All-Star Game is going to be here this year. What's the date and what can we expect from those festivities? The date of the game itself is June 21st, 7.05 game. But the festivities begin all day the day before on June 20th. Starting with we're going to have all the league executives, players, everyone from the other 13 markets and teams in our league will be visiting our city. So we want to show it off to the best of our abilities. We've got bourbon tours. We've got American Pharaoh tours. We've got some of the downtown and history tours of Lexington. And then Monday night, we're calling it Monday Night Live. We're having a free Thompson Square concert for anyone and everyone. And again, it's really just a fun way to kick off the All-Star Game and the All-Star Game festivities. That next day, we've got all sorts of things going on, starting with an entire team meet and greet and autograph session with everyone on the All-Star team, both of them, managers, trainers, you name it. starting at 3.30 at the ballpark on the 21st. Then it goes into our legendary derby, which we had to put a little spin on the home run derby to give it our own Lexington and equine feel. So we have a lot of fun, cool, interactive, unique ways to enjoy the derby. And then, of course, you've got the game itself, which hosts the South Atlantic League All-Stars, and it's had everyone from Bryce Harper to Hunter Pence to Lexington's own Robbie Ross, who's a current Boston Red Sox, But it truly is the stars of tomorrow. Hey, that sounds like a real exciting time here in Lexington at the ballpark. I know me and my family plan to come. I've already signed in that I'm coming on Facebook, so I look forward to the festivities. Scott Blewett into the windup and the pitch on the way, a swing and a drive into left center field. Coming over for it and diving for it is Cody Jones, and he makes the catch. Andy, I spent a lot of time here at the Legends baseball stadium. And we even actually had my son's 10-year birthday party here. He had a chance to throw out the first pitch. His friends, it got rained. It started raining at the end of the night, so they didn't get to run the bases. But they did a whole lot of stuff in the stadium. When I was here, I don't remember this area. Is this something new? It is. This is our bullpen patio. We really took a bunch of steps back going into the offseason last August and really kind of wanted to just take a 100% fan experience perspective on anything and everything that we do here, both operationally, facility-wise, pricing-wise, everything. So the bullpen patio is really kind of our crown jewel of the offseason. I mean, this is a great area that is open to anyone and everyone, whether you have a bleacher ticket or you have a sweet ticket or anything in between, the bullpen patio is open to you, and you can come and just hang out and have fun And, I mean, talk about the best view in the house. So, I mean, this is something that really is, again, for everyone whenever they want. Yeah, it looks like it runs right up on the field. It looks like a good party slash patio area. What other improvements or what other upgrades have you made to the stadium? Well, so one of the biggest ones that we did as well was we took over our food and beverage and concessions operations. So instead of having ultra-corporate, third-party running our food and beverage and that operation, we're doing it in-house. So what that's allowed us to do is we have lowered every single price on the menu versus last year. And I don't know how many people can ever say that at a venue or sporting event, but we're very proud of that. And we've expanded the variety. So there's all sorts of fun things to get out here, whether it's the fried bologna sandwich on the donuts, whether it's the churger, which is a chicken and hamburger sandwich, or our taco stand. I mean, there is such great variety and everything's at a great cost. Churger. They're making up words here at the Legends, so they're doing it all. Talking about changes and upgrades, I see it looks like the concourses have been painted. I see murals. I see pictures of past U.K. players that were hearing throughout the first pitch. It's a lot of great additions to the stadium. I think it's going to enhance the overall experience. Can you touch base on some of the things that make this an affordable family destination? I know you have bobblehead nights, Thirsty Thursdays. Yep, absolutely. So with the bobblehead nights, with the fireworks, with the national acts and the entertainment, We try and add as much value as humanly possible to the tickets that we offer at the ballpark, which starts at $1. So at Mission, we're trying to always figure out ways to make it as affordable and as efficient to the customer, as well as add as much value. Then every Monday is Kids Eat Free and Play. So they get a free combo meal, as well as the kids area is free to them for the night. Every Tuesday is quarter hot dog night. And then every Thursday is dollar beers, dollar Pepsis. So we try and have as much fun and as much value and as much affordability as we can. Okay. That sounds great. I'll tell you what, it sounds like you guys are a real good community partner. And in that same vein, I know y'all do a lot of programs and are involved in a lot of things in the community. I know we both sit on the board of LexArt. I've been here for your stash tank events. Can you tell a little bit about the Stash Tank and some of the other initiatives that you are involved in in the community? Absolutely. That's something that is more than just important for us. It's vital. It's who we are. It's who we have to be. And it's who we enjoy being as well. The Stash Tank was amazing. We had one program with the STEAM Academy and one with William Wells Brown where these, whether it was fifth graders or ninth graders, they put together a plan on what would be great in William Wells Brown's case, what would be great for a giveaway. and in steam academies what would be great for a particular area of the ballpark and they did all the research on pricing on what would be popular on what we could charge for it if it was something that would cost money how it used what demographic would be for so it's really awesome getting these ideas from the fifth graders or from the ninth graders so and then hearing from them hey this would be great and this is why and then on the flip side it allowed them to think about things and the world and the Lexington Legends and business. And as I tried to tell them, they're home when it comes to electric costs and everything else. That, you know, really viewing the world and everything in a fun, different way. Yeah, I know I was involved in that. And it was really exciting seeing how the kids were presenting their proposals, how energetic they were, how they spoke intelligently about their products and how they were selling it or trying to sell it to you to buy into it. And I think you actually, I don't remember what school was the winner, but I know it's the slap. Oh, yeah. Well, William Wells Brown. So it was one of the groups with William Wells Brown. So we're going to be doing, and that was the key to it all, is that we are going to do this. We are going to spend the money and commit to the slap bracelets. So it's really fun. And you mentioned LexArts. We've got two beautiful commissions pieces at the ballpark. We've got four murals on the outside by the parking lot that are still just absolutely incredible. And then we've got our stash wall, which was done last year by Broco Loco and commissioned through LexArts. And it's amazing. OK, well, I'm going to list some of the other initiatives that I know you guys are a part of. The surgery on Sundays. I know that's a touch a little bit. Touch a little bit. Oh, yeah, that's a great one, too, because so the big representation or commitment that we made through that was through me being a two time Dancing with Lex and Stars champion. as they are the beneficiary through the Rotary Club for that. And that's a great organization, a bunch of great people that donate their time, their skills, and their resources towards literally doing the surgeries and operations on Sundays pro bono. So you're a little dancing machine. Oh, yeah, yeah. The only two-time champion in Lexington. Yeah, I also know you're involved with the Big Brothers program, Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I know you're a big advocate for that and big supporter of that program as well. Absolutely, and that's why I call Akulivan. in my second home because that's where it all started. When my little brother who I was matched with when he was in fifth grade, I was going over to Colvin all the time. And through him, you know, it really stemmed. And through him, I've got five other little brothers that we all say love you to, we all respect, we all support, and three little sisters. So, I mean, we're always there for each other. And my 16-year-old lives with me now and it's full-time. And it's my oldest little brother is in his fourth year at Union College. He's the first member of his family to go to college, youngest of seven, first one to go to college. So it's really just an amazing, just mutually beneficial relationship that is so fun. And they've all worked at the ballpark too, which is always fun. Yeah, I think that's great. I know you start out doing community outreach and then it turns out to be a part of your life. It becomes a way of life. And I think what you're doing here at the ballpark and how you're getting out and meeting the needs of the community in the community is something that speaks volumes for you and what you do here at the Legends. Well, I appreciate that. That's vital to us. That's who we are and that's who we need to be. All right, it looks like today I'm going to be the closer. I'm First District Councilman James Brown. This has been another council comment. I'd like to thank Andy Shea and the Legends staff especially Haley Wilson for their hospitality, and I hope to see you this summer at the ballpark. Hello, I'm Vice Mayor Steve Kaye, and I'm here with Alice Grace Steitz, who is the museum director and chief curator for the new 21C Museum Hotel in Lexington. And I know there's been a lot of interest in having this come to Lexington. Now that it's open, we're going to have an opportunity to look around, talk with Alice Gray about what's going on here. So let me start by first saying thank you for coming and taking the time. And tell us a little bit about your background first, and then we'll talk about 21C. Sure. Thank you for coming to 21C Museum Hotel Lexington this morning. We're really thrilled to be in Lexington. As you know, 21C is now in five locations. This is our fifth, and we've been really eager to open in this beautiful, historic Beaux Arts building. I have been working with 21C as chief curator for a number of years, about five years since we began the expansion. I started my career as a curator at the Speed Art Museum many years ago and worked on various projects all involving different kinds of contemporary art. And now I'm dedicated full-time to working on curating the exhibitions and commissioning site-specific installations and other programming throughout what we like to think of as a multi-venue museum. Okay, so you're the curator for all of the museums and all of the hotels. Yes, yes. Although, as I hope people will come to discover, we do a lot of local programming, which will be organized by our museum manager, Alex Brooks, who's a longtime Lexington resident member of the art scene. And we really like to have a program that is both globally connected, showcasing artwork from all around the world, but also locally engaged in collaborating with other cultural and civic institutions in Lexington. Yeah. Well, we're not here to talk about Louisville and the Speed Museum, but I can't help but mention, I'm sure you're excited too, about the new speed and just a plug for people to go to Louisville and see that new facility. It's really remarkable. I think Kulapat Yantrasad is an outstanding architect, and he's created a space that is really exciting to be in. I think we'll just draw more national attention to Kentucky as a place where great art happens. Yeah. So the whole concept of a museum hotel, talk just a little bit about that. Where did that come from, and how's it working? Well, it came from our visionary founders, Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, who are passionate collectors of contemporary art and wanted to share that passion with the public, understanding, experiencing how much that had shaped their lives and perspective. They thought other people should have that access. And they also wanted to revitalize downtown Louisville and now the downtowns of several other cities, really focusing on development in the urban core as a way to preserve our farmland, but also to inject vitality economically and culturally into these cities. So they didn't want to build a private museum where people would have to pay admission or that would be supported by the public in some other way. but to build something where a business could employ people and that business could support the programming. So that was the passion. It's very different from a lot of hotels display art, but this is not art for decoration. This is a museum program where there are exhibitions that change, that are curated, that cover a whole wide range of topics that have some relevance to what's happening in the world today. Okay, so it's a little unusual. We're going to take a brief pause and walk around and show people some more of what's actually going on here. But this is a good start, so we'll take a break and then come right back. Okay. Okay, we're back, and now we're going to talk a little bit about the artwork. Actually, Alice Gray is going to talk about the artwork. I'm going to ask her questions, but this is what was in the background. Tell us a little bit about this piece and how it relates to the general way in which the collection is put together. Sure. So this is a diptych by Anthony Gwaikelea. He's an American artist. And this is from a whole series of photographs and a film he did called The Septembris. And you'll notice that the figures, the two male figures, are in uniform. The exhibition that we are showcasing is our first exhibition here in Lexington. It's called Dress Up, Speak Up, Costume and Confrontation. So one of the similarities that you'll see in all of the artwork is that there are figures in different kinds of costumes. These look sort of from the 1920s. You'll see people dressed in what looks like 19th century Victorian clothing. You'll see people in religious garb and in contemporary street wear. But in all of the works, the artists are using costume to create different narratives about issues that are relevant today. So Gwai Kalea is an artist who's been collected in depth by 21C. There are a lot of works in the collection. So you'll see some more of his in some of the other rooms as well. Okay, well, let's take a walk. Okay. We'll see. All right, so now we're in the hallway. We were in a meeting room. Now we're in the hallway, and this is a pretty large piece. Yeah, this is a very large photograph. I can see the theme of costume. Right, so it's kind of clear what the connection is, but of course a very different topic. This is, as many people will see right away, a reenactment of the Last Supper. But instead of, as in Leonardo da Vinci's famous rendering, this is a photograph, and the disciples are female wearing the hijab, and this is called Last Supper Gaza. So as much as this has a relationship to an art historical precedent, the artwork is also meant to make us think about conditions in Palestine. They are posed exactly as the figures are in the original, but of course played by women instead of men, and they are Muslim, not Christian. The meal that they're sharing as their last supper is rather sparse, which is in reference to conditions in that part of the world today. Okay. Okay, and so the food that's on the table is one of the things that's different. Is that right? Yes. So it's more... Yes, I don't think they had dinner rolls. No. Probably not. Okay, well, let's keep moving. We're walking down the hallway, and I should say, we were in what is a meeting room, but windows aren't occupied. All of the spaces are open, open to the public, and we're open 24 hours a day, free of charge, so you can explore these hallways and those rooms. This is another work from the same series by Goykolea that we were seeing from the Septembrists, and you can see that these boys have different uniforms on. They're carrying instruments. There's no sound in the film. There's just the Provokiev's Peter and the Wolf is the soundtrack. I think that the photographs themselves are intriguing. Now, you have to really walk by this piece to experience it. a lot of contemporary art requires participation is interactive and this is a lenticular I just had the experience I've seen it before but essentially what you see changes as you walk by because of the way in which it's the kind of paint it's a lenticular photograph so it's the material that he's printing on that as you walk by removes her gown Okay. And if people, the thing that reminds me of, of course, is the holographic images. Yes, exactly. It functions the same kind of way. But this has got a full image on it. It's actually, again, a reproduction of a famous work from art history. So the couple are taken from a painting by Hayes that hangs in the Brera Collection in Milan. It's a very famous work of Italian romantic painting. But the contemporary artist, Bei Jun Tsung, has transformed it by recasting the female character with an Asian model and placing it within the context of a church ceremony. The background in the original is plain. And disroving her, as our eyes do as we walk by. That's neat. Okay. Now we're in the lobby and one of the things that I noticed before we talk about this beautiful piece of art is that we've got the blue penguins which are a signature for 21st. They started with red penguins in Louisville, is that right? And then, I don't know what other colors, but come to Lexington, of course, they're blue. They are. They're yellow in Cincinnati, green in Bentonville, and fuchsia in Durham, but of course we knew that the blue ones had to come to Lexington. The penguins are artworks by Cracking Art Group. They're a European-based collective, and they make animals in oversized colors out of plastic. They want us to pay attention to the use of plastic in the world. They're playful. They're fun. The penguins roam around. They don't like to leave the building, but they do like to play with you if you come visit. Oh, great. Okay, so then this piece that we're standing in front of? This is a very recent, one of numerous pieces in this exhibition by Ebony G. Patterson. Ebony is a native of Jamaica, where she spends some of her time, and she's also on the faculty at the University of Kentucky here in Lexington. Several of these pieces have been in the 21C collection. We're really interested in her use of materials and her subject matter, which has to do with identity and popular culture in her native Jamaica and beyond. Her use of materials is really amazing. She does this applique on top of tapestries that have been commercially printed, and then she really blings them out with very contemporary subjects. So it's hard to see the subject here, but there is a figure lying amidst all of these flowers. Well, see, there's a part of a figure, actually. You can see a torso and legs here. This is from a series that she did called Dead Trees. And it was really about the discovery of images that are on social media of anonymous victims of violence. Ebony's work really has to do with issues of visibility and invisibility, what we see and what we don't want to see, who is seen in society and who is ignored. And so the kind of over-the-top use of color, material, and sequins is underscoring what we look at and what we don't look at and who gets to be seen. So she's really talented. And you can see these shoes here were specially done as if someone has just taken off their shoes and disappeared. And all the pieces in this lobby area? In this particular lobby area are works by Ebony. and we're really proud to present them, and some of them are on loan from the artist. Okay. I think we have time for one more. We'll take a little more walk. Last. So now we're in kind of the intermediate lobby, still lots of artwork, and now we have this three-dimensional piece. Yes. This is the Food Fairy by Inka Shonibari. The Food Fairy? Food Fairy by Inka Shonibari MBE. He insists that you use that honorific with his name, member of the Order of the British Empire. He was born in London, raised in Nigeria, and now makes photographs, sculpture. There's a film in another gallery, work in all media. And the signature element in his work is that the figures are always clothed in what look like Dutch wax fabrics, alluding to the history of the empire. So it's got some, I mean, it's a familiar... Costuming is very important in Shona Barre's work, yes. Yes, because he's looking back through the history of the British Empire and its impact on people and on lives all over the world that continues, you know, today. Okay, I think we'll take a brief break and wrap up then. We're now in the restaurant, and we want to talk a little bit about one thing that was actually designed for this location. So, the lights. This is your weather forecast. This is tomorrow's weather. This is an artwork by a Swedish duo, B. Gert and Berkström. And those gloves, which are arranged in the shape of atmospheric molecules, are plugged into the National Weather Service. and they give you a sense, maybe not exactly what it's going to feel like tomorrow, but what the pattern might feel like. I can see it's going to be pretty warm because the temperature globe is turning red. So it's going to warm up and maybe a little bit cloudy. You can see how it moves quickly. They're the patterns of the weather that will change. It looks like it'll be a little overcast, but we know the forecast can often be wrong. Right. Okay. Well, maybe that would be a good place to stop and wrap up. I just want to say again, thank you for taking the time and talking about these artworks. I want to tell everybody, one thing you said, we kind of went by it quickly. This is open to the public, 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. Seven days a week. Always free. Always free. It's a very interesting experience. Please come and take advantage of it. We're so happy to have you and 21C, the hotel, the restaurant, everybody here. helping to make downtown a more kind of exciting and viable space. So, again, thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you all for watching. Thank you. Hello, I'm Fifth District Councilmember Bill Farmer welcoming you to another very special edition of Lexplore. This is, I think, our third edition at the new Senior Citizen Center. Sounds great. I'm joined by Christy Stambaugh, who is our Director of the Center? Is that surely? Director of Aging and Disability Services. Well, I'm glad we're finally giving you a building large enough to go with your title. That's right. Isn't that great? Thank you for welcoming us back again. Thank you for having us. Thanks for coming. Well, it's just, it's exciting to watch. I mean, when you drive by or some road, you can see something's going on back here. But now it's just becoming more of a focus. That's right. It's so exciting every time the construction site sends us aerial photos from a drone. Right. Or Martin sends us pictures from. Or my staff come and wander on the weekend and take pictures. Do you really? Oh, yes. The excitement is just growing by the day. Well, we'll go inside and tour around here in a minute. But you've got to be getting excited. and I'm sure your crew is, about just getting over here. That's exactly right. There are so many little details, and we don't want to forget any of our people. I mean, we have, I just looked, last month we had 500 unique users at the current center on Nicholasville Road, and it's tiny, and it's a green building, and it blends in, and it's nothing as majestic or as beautiful or as telling as this site is for the seniors that we have now and those that are getting older every day. You're exactly right. It has a sense of majesty about it. Oh, yes. And attractiveness. I think we'll bring more people to it. And I'm glad you're counting heads. That's exactly right. I think it's good to know who's coming and what they're doing for that matter. Right. Because the outreach will be totally different. You have the ability to do exponentially more, more things here, more things going on. You know, and we kind of stopped doing outreach because we were so overcrowded. And as we got closer, we started doing more outreach. And we're having sometimes 40 new members a month. On average, about 25 new seniors sign up at our current center every single month. And we don't have room for them. So we cannot wait until the summer of 2016 when we move into this building. And we've had a couple of change orders come through where you've gotten more chairs or more furniture. I mean, it's just you're filling it in as you go, which I think is good. Not everything all at once, but you know what your needs are. You're trying to fill them. That's right. And, you know, I was saying to Harding that we were designing this thing two years ago. And so much had changed already in two years. I think we were very thoughtful in our process moving forward. But, for instance, needing more tables and chairs. I mean, that just has been a response to what's happened in the past two years at our current center. I think it's dramatic, and it will be dramatic. That's exactly right. And I'm excited to walk in every time, but it certainly has been nice to meet you in these kind of casual settings. Right. Because this is the first time we really start on the site. Every time before we had started across the road. That's exactly right. And this has got a code on it. It's not done yet. Right. But we're getting very, very close. That's right. Every single day it takes a different shape. And just having some of the exterior done and really all of the windows. I mean, we have very few windows at our current facility. And to see these windows and to see what we get to look out on, which is either the reservoir in Nicholasville Road or the park, which is so amazing. A 22-acre park, and we're a part of it. You are, and I think the neighborhoods welcome you in that capacity. I think so, too. And I think we'll welcome them as well. Well, let's start. Let's go inside. Okay. It's going to be an exciting tour. We're going to see the cafe first off. All right, that sounds great. We'll be right back. So when you walk in downstairs. Sure, when we walk in, we're going to see the welcome desk or the reception area. On the right. To the right, that's correct. And then immediately to the left is a cafe. And it's an indoor-outdoor cafe. Right here, right beneath where we're standing. That's exactly right below where we're standing. And there'll be coffee served there. We're not sure of what kind of refreshments yet. But it's going to be with a lot of public outlets for people to charge their phones or charge their devices or just to sit and drink coffee. Room to interact. Yeah, absolutely. There's indoor seating. And then right below us, out that window, is some outdoor seating. And we have some speakers out there so that there'll be music for an outdoor cafe kind of environment. It's going to be nice. Have you named all these things yet? They may get names. They may get names if some benefactors come. Below the art studios are two classrooms, and we've already gotten into an agreement with OLLI, which is the University of Kentucky Osher Lifelong Learning, and they're going to provide educational classes five days a week for us. And so that's going to bring in people who might not come to the senior center because they may not say, oh, it may not be for me, but I like the education part. Then once they're here, they're going to see the cafe. They're going to see the upstairs, the studio. We're in the card room. They're going to see the billiards. They're going to say, oh, maybe I'm going to come. That's exactly right. There's three billiards tables right behind us. Additionally, downstairs is the multipurpose room. And the multipurpose room has a designated track, kind of. It's seating or walking path designated by the flooring. Okay. So that people really wanted to be able to walk indoors when the weather's not so good. So in the big room. So in the big room around the perimeter. We think it's going to be 19 laps to equal a mile. but we'll have designated walking time. Use some clickers then too. Absolutely. Because people will lose track. Yes, we will. I would. Table tennis will go on downstairs, dances. We have the platform, so we'll have the opportunity to have huge lectures, huge entertainment. Sure. And maybe... With the park behind it all. That's exactly right. It's so beautiful. Out that door though is an outdoor patio for the back. There's a barbecue, there's raised flower beds, there's seating out there as well, With a clear view, again, to that pickleball court that I love so much. We're going to have to post the rules somewhere. Absolutely. We will put them up there. Or have some sort of a presentation match. Right. That's a good idea. So people can see how it's played. Maybe it could be the council members against the seniors. Well, I think you're good at your job. I think that would be fun. There's a library downstairs as well, and it's going to have a focal point fireplace. Really? Yeah. And a place for people to sit. And there'll be chairs there with tablet arms. So if they bring their devices and they want to enjoy their tablets or rest their arms and read the newspapers, it's going to be available to them in the library. It's kind of a quiet area, kind of away from the fray and all the other activities. You need to wish bees. Absolutely. So generally, what will your operating hours be? In the beginning, we're going to maintain what we do now, which is 9 to 5. I mean 8 to 5. And then as we get more comfortable and as our participants get more comfortable, we'll offer a couple evening classes a week and maybe a weekend class. And we really haven't decided if we're going to be five days a week open until 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock. We're just going to wait and see how our clients, what they need. Let's see how popular it is. That's exactly right. All right. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back. I know it's a little overwhelming. At times, it absolutely is. To walk through here, it has such presence now where before it was open or they were pouring the concrete or something, and now it's very real. That's right. Every time I come, our guy on the site, it says, now, Christy, it's going to look smaller. Now, this time it might look bigger. Now, this time it's going to look smaller. And this time up here it looks really big, and downstairs it looks a little smaller. It looks very enclosed now. Now, what will this area be? This is the card area. We're standing in the card area, and directly next to us is the art studios. We have two separate art studios. One is going to be messy with ceramics and pottery wheels. The other is going to have sewing machines. That's this one. Yeah, because there's venting and stuff in there. That's correct. There are two kilns. And then the clean art is going to be like needle craft and drawing and doodling and adult coloring, sewing, photography, things like that. And then beyond that are the two conference rooms. That's exactly right. And they probably have the best view. We were there, if you remember, when they were pouring the cement. And we were looking down into the park, and we were looking down into the multipurpose room. Well, I think it gives the best view of the park, literally. And the pickleball courts, the two pickleball courts that are out there. Pickleball courts, more on that later. Then on the far corner here, the front corner, is your fitness area. That's exactly right. And it's looking out into the parking lot, which is beautiful, and you can actually see the reservoir. And McDonald's, yeah. And McDonald's. That might be the motivation for all the cardio, because all the cardio equipment will be facing the front of the building. That would be very nice. Yeah, and we're going to have personal trainers here that are going to help everybody get oriented with the machinery so that they're nice and safe and they understand how that it works. And then they'll be signed off so that they can access it even when the personal trainer is not available. I guess your programming opportunities must quadruple. That's exactly right. We're going from about eight programs a day to about 24 different activities every day. And you're set staff-wise for that? I think so, yes. We had a very generous budget going into the year. I'm not to say that we might not need a mid-year ask, just because we're starting the full fiscal year at the new year. Do you have a go-away party at the old place? We really are. Are you? You need to. There's a lot of great memories there. There is. And we're going to have video montages of all the activities. And, you know, Ernestine, who was at our groundbreaking, still is coming to the center. And so she opened the first center, and she's going to open the next center with us. I mean, that's just the beauty of it. You have a sustaining clientele, but a growing one. And people will have so many more reasons to come here. Not that that's bad there. This is so much better here. That's exactly right. And one of the things I think that everybody's been conscious of is we don't want to lose what we have. and the familiarity with one another and the comfort we have with our clients and they have with us. And so we're going to have a soft opening, and we're going to be here for our people, and then the big blowout and the big grand opening when we've worked out all the kinks. Well, this big room back here would be a great place to do something like that. Absolutely. And the outside, because we've never really had the park. We've never really had the out-of-doors to pull into. And to me, the juxtaposition of those dugouts right outside the back door here. And people here to enjoy those kids and those games, I think it's going to be just something that wasn't part of the calculus, but it would be so wonderful out here. Exactly. Because interaction will take place multi-generational. That's right. Any day. Every day. And we're so close to schools, the elementary school right there and Henry Clay High School right up the street, so that we'll be able to pull them in for some intergenerational planned programming. And then the neighborhood, Idliar's getting its community garden back up there. And I'm sure that some of our people will engage with them at that time. Well, I think so, too, because I think there's a lot of opportunity just for people to share. That's exactly right. On what they've done. Right. All right. Okay. We'll be right back. Welcome back. I've been joined by Harding Dow, who is an associate with EOP. What are you to this project, though? I've been the project manager from day one. So I've shepherded this project from the very early stages of design. We started with a community design charrette and have then seen it through design and construction. It's nice to have you all with me today. Absolutely. I consider you in Lexington's finest and Lexington's future. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Well, it's very nice. So one of the things about this is it's more than just a center. And as Christy said, it has a sense of majesty about it. And is that what design can do for a building? Absolutely. What we knew going into this project was it needed to do two things. It needed to be a good neighbor. Yes. It needed to be visible from Richmond Road. And to draw attention. Yes. It needed to be something eye-catching and iconic, but it also needed to be very welcoming once you got up to the front doors. And also it needed to function well with the rest of Idle Hour Park as we developed that. All right, let's cover just a couple of elements here. Yeah. The stonework, which is real stonework. It is. Indiana limestone. You've surprised me. I expected something less than that. But that's a lot of work. It took them a long time to do that. We've had great partners all along. The stonework turned out really great. We've also got some insulated metal panels, some wood grain finishes on the outside. So that's where the blue is now? Where the blue is now. The blue is our waterproofing membrane that wraps the entire building. Okay. And then, yeah, that big blue square there will be a panel that's not real wood but has a wood finish on it. So, it still gives you that warmth, but a little bit better on the maintenance side. So, it will wear well in weather, so to speak? Exactly. Yeah. It should look brand new all the time. So, that gives you, certainly with the limestone, something very local. With the wood, I think, the feel is something very local. Absolutely. And then there's some ribbing, the steel trussing. What would you call that? Well, we've got what's holding our insulation on are a series of Z-girts that help us get that thick insulated barrier so that the building is going to be LEED certified. So we needed to go above and beyond with regard to our thermal protection. So that's what's holding our insulation on. And then we do have a couple of other areas where we've got some ribbed metal panel around some of the more background parts of the building. But we really wanted this space to really catch the eye. Well, no, I think it does that. And I think that, you know, you and your firm do great work, and this is just an example of it. So we appreciate it. We love being good community partners, and really this kind of project is so special to us because it can make such an impact on the community that it serves. Oh, I agree. That's what we love. You all have done a great job. You partner with great people on this, and I don't know. I've just been pleased to be involved from the beginning and to meet with you here now. It's been great. But I just can't tell you enough. Thank you enough. Thank you, Councilman. My pleasure. My pleasure. We always enjoy telling good stories. I'm Lexplore. If you have a thought about one, please let me know. I'm Bill Farmer. Thank you.