Thomas Woodcock, attorney and real estate developer of historic properties, announced today that the organization he has led for the past two years, Preservation Louisville, has joined forces with Vital Sites, a non-profit launched this year to use development and adaptive reuse as tools to build sustainable, healthy communities in Metro Louisville.
Mr. Woodcock made the announcement today in an email to members and
supporters of Preservation Louisville. His statement said, in part, “As a supporter of Preservation Louisville, I have been eager to share with you changes that have occurred over the last year and what’s in store for the future. … I joined the board of a new organization dedicated to redeveloping Louisville’s underutilized historic assets. Through the dedication of board members, volunteers, and a single staff member, that organization officially launched this year with a new identity and
mission. … This past year, the Preservation Louisville Board made the decision to join forces with Vital Sites. We officially became a subsidiary organization, allowing us to continue to manage the Brennan House while lending our support behind this new, exciting endeavor.”
In October, Vital Sites breaks ground on its first major project, East BroadwayRow, the redevelopment of five historic shotgun houses in the 1200 block of East Broadway near Baxter Avenue. This event builds on Preservation Louisville’s signature program preserving Louisville’s original “tiny house”: the Shotgun.
Most importantly, this project presents a new paradigm for preservation in Louisville: the partnership of Vital Sites, a non-profit, with a private landowner and a private developer, the Edwards Co. This creative private-non-profit partnership is a model of how large scale new development and smaller scale renovation can work cooperatively and creatively to revitalize neighborhoods.
Vital Sites will be a catalyst for revitalization of Louisville’s historic core and urban neighborhoods through the thoughtful and energetic use of its architectural heritage. This new organization has been developed with the guidance of Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has used Louisville as an urban laboratory for the past three years.
More information about Vital Sites, as well as its projects and opportunities for support and membership can be found at the organization’s website, www.vitalsites.org.