City

Development projects you forgot were happening in Louisville

Now you can get excited all over again.

February 15, 2024 • 
Jeff Milby
A Victorian-era home, converted into a whimsical children's museum. Several trees are growing up the walls of the house, and a giant fish sits out front.

Groundbreaking is set for this year on the AHOY Museum, an immersive children’s museum that will include trap doors throughout.

Rendering by Portland Museum and Weber Group

“Hey, remember when they announced ____? Whatever happened to that?”

There’s a lot of development going on across Derby City, and it can be hard to keep track of what’s happening. We’re reminding you about these four developments that might have slipped your mind, so you can get excited about them all over again.

(No, we’re not here to tell you about another boutique hotel — there’s been plenty of news on that front lately.)

AHOY Children’s Museum

  • Announced: May 2022
  • Current outlook: Groundbreaking is set for this year

Inspired by spaces like the City Museum in St. Louis, this $4 million project is set to be Louisville’s first immersive children’s museum. Dubbed the “Adventure House of You” — aka AHOY — plans include indoor + outdoor spaces, like a tree house made from remnants of a steamboat.

An industrial area is being cleaned up. A concrete and cinderblock space features newly installed windows, overlooking an ecavated space which will one day be the outdoor patio of a brewery. A large, red brick, industrial building covered in graffiti stands in the background.

Located in the former Merchant’s Ice Tower property, the Trellis Brewing space is starting to take shape — but no opening timetable has been set.

Image via @trellisbrewing

Trellis Brewing

  • Announced: July 2022
  • Current outlook: No opening date has been set, but work is underway

Located at the former Merchant’s Ice Tower property in Smoketown, the brewery recently posted updates of the project’s progress to social media, including the installation of brewing equipment, new flooring + trees being planted on the outdoor patio. Trellis says there’s no official timeline yet, but they are close to sharing one soon.

Trager Microforest at Founder’s Square

  • Announced: November 2022
  • Current outlook: Expected implementation early this year

The University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute plans to turn Founder’s Square, the pocket park located on Muhammad Ali Boulevard between 4th + 5th Streets, into a densely packed forest.

LOUtoday_Louisville Gardens 1

The proposal includes restoring the building’s facade to its original design from 1905.

Rendering by Gensler

Louisville Gardens

  • Announced: December 2022
  • Current outlook: On track for groundbreaking in 2024, according to reports

In 2022, River City Entertainment Group signed a letter of intent with the Louisville Metro Government pledging to re-purpose the ~120-year-old facility into a modern media + entertainment production complex. Environmental remediation work is currently ongoing.