Lexington Transit Center

Description

The Lexington Transit Center is a two-story public transportation facility utilized by Lextran and other regional transit services with a five-story underground parking garage along East Vine Street and East High Street east of South Limestone in Lexington, Kentucky. It features twelve bus stalls on E. Vine Street, four bus capacity on E. High Street, two indoor waiting rooms with restrooms and vending, and three clerk booths for ticket sales and customer service, with buses running every 35 minutes for much of the day. Completion of the transit center occurred in 1990 and was completed in conjunction with the Harrison Avenue (now Martin Luther King Drive) viaduct reconstruction.HistoryThe original plans for the Lexington Transit Center included a large apartment complex that would front both sides of Harrison Street. The One Eleven apartment project was scheduled to begin in November 1987 with preliminary ground work, with actual construction beginning in the spring of 1988. The developers of the project included Warren W. Rosenthal, chairman of Jerrico Inc., Hugh Bennett of Bennett Architects Inc. and real estate developer Bill Combs. The site was the former home of the Charlie Sturgill car dealership.The original proposal called for 320 apartments with 425 parking spaces at 24 floors with a cost of $42 million. The project, initially proposed in February 1984, was never constructed after the developers from First Lexington Company failed to obtain a federal grant and private financing needed to complete the project. It was originally agreed that the Urban County Council would apply for a $1.9 million federal grant and authorize $21.7 million in housing bonds, with the city contributing $494,000 in local matching funds.In 1985, it was proposed that the project include 296 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, with eight penthouses, three levels of commercial space, and 354 parking spaces. The One Eleven project was to include a "walk-through mall" between High and Vine Street, a swimming pool and health club, meeting rooms, and an outdoor garden and entertainment area. It was publicly resurrected by the developers of the project and had garnered support from the Urban County Council. Federal aid for the project had already been approved, however, and a $35 million bond was issued for multifamily housing; the First Lexington Company was contributing $2.9 million, with the Kentucky Housing Corporation providing some financing. The total cost was to be $41.2 million.