May 15, 2025 • 10 mins
Louisville Downtown Partnership executive director Rebecca Fleischaker is full of good news about downtown aesthetics and sounds.
Pianos, plants, and parkways are lighting up downtown Louisville access and opportunities.
Don't miss the new face of the city center in Louisville. It's popping!
Pianos, plants, and parkways are lighting up downtown Louisville access and opportunities.
Don't miss the new face of the city center in Louisville. It's popping!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're on news radio eight forty WS. Terry miners here.
Rebecca fly Shaker has returned to the seat of the crime.
She's executive director of Louisville Downtown Partnership. Let's see, Sorry,
I had a chord in my way, Rebecca. It is
great to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
So good to see you too.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey, I say this, Our city looks beautiful right now,
and I'm thinking you had something to do with that.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wow. We like to put things in the public rights
of way that people get to enjoy looking at and yesterday,
as of yesterday, get to enjoy hearing and playing.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh yeah, that's right. The piano deal.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Downtown two, tell me what's happening.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You put pianos in various locations.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We have four pianos that we so this is kind
of funny. We got three two and a half years ago,
a call saying, hey, do you want a piano? And
I'm like, what do you do with it? Let me
think about that. Sure, why not? And then we told
a board member and he was like, I want to
give you a piano. And then we got a third
piano from a friend of mine who heard that the
first person had give it a piano. And then the
(00:57):
mover who was moving our piano said I am a piano.
We're like, great, what the heck are we going to do?
So we worked with J. Graham Brown's School and Francis
Parker School and their arts programs and they they are
student art students designed and painted four different pianos and
we put them out on the street. So we unveiled
those yesterday and they are in four different locations, so
(01:19):
you will just bump into them. We probably will be
putting a few more out.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Is this something you saw when you were vacation in Copenhagen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I have never been to Cobenhagen, but it is. They
are our other cities that have this program. I love
researched it because I looked it up. Like what do
we do?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I knew you do you research everything? Well, what a
brilliant idea, but not mine.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah. There's a couple of questions. It's like, after a
certain hour, do we tell people not to do that
because they are people sleeping.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
That's a perfect well, not that these things are going
to wake you up, but they are only available, which
means they're only uncovered from nine am to nine pm. Ah,
we do put covers on them. They are waterproof people.
The comments that we're seeing on Facebook are hilarious. They
they might get a little damage, but they are old,
very old. They've lived their useful time, and this really
(02:07):
was a way to extend them, a way to get
a nice use in our public spaces and especially perk
up like some old, dead public spaces that weren't getting
any attention. But it's these pianos aren't going to be
the greatest pianos. Don't expect a concert level piano. They
get tuned. They've just been tuned.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, that was my next question is because piano tuners
they're very, very persnickety about that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So they are, but this particular tuner is like, this
is cool. I will tune it to this level, but
not beyond it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Right, It's not going to be a Steinway concert at
Carnegie Hall.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
However, guess who sat down and played at one of
them yesterday.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I think I know his name is Teddy Abrams.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Mister Abram.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We love this.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Being able to play music and express yourself, whether it's
in a very public way or perhaps in a more private,
intimate way, is a big part of what keeps societies
and communities together and what allows us to bridge our
many divides.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I posted a video of him on Instagram a year
or two ago. He was at a private residence and
he and another pianist improvised this thing for nine minutes.
It was so brilliant. That guy is unbelievable different. Yeah,
I mean just the way and the two of them
they were able to sort of work with each other.
And after they were finished, I said, now, had you
(03:29):
worked it out in advance? He goes, no, We just
sort of balance off and bounce off each other. I mean,
people in that realm have this. This can do it
all the tea.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
This gift is so great, So good for getting Teddy
Abrams to do it, and he actually played the piano.
May we listen? Sure we can? So obviously it's great
(04:03):
to have the support of Teddy Abrams.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah. Well, and his comments really did reflect we need,
we want. We're a better community because we have music
in the arts in our community and let's make them
more accessible in public, and that is exactly what this
program does.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, it's cool and thank you. I don't know who
picked the locations, but one of them is close to
our studios just down there.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
We picked the location.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
We love because there's a lot of people come through
here all the time, and summer visitors, some are locals
that are just going to lunch or whatever. Work with
these various offices, that's going to thrill a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I assume we're going to learn a lot just by
putting these out. Just yesterday already we just got a
suggestion to put a sign on it that says you
can play this or sit down and play or whatever,
so the people know that it is meant for you
to actually sit down. It's not an art piece to exactly, no,
please play, we want the music. And I said this yesterday.
You know how you what you see and hear in
(04:57):
a public space has everything to do with how you
feel about being in that space. And this is going
to change another level of how you feel in a space.
And I'm really excited.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Love it arts in the air. Yeah so, and it's
also the last time you were here, we talked about,
you know, cleaning up, getting everything, and that's what I
started our conversation with. We look good.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh yeah, thanks, we do look good. I mean spring
is always everything's blooming. Finally, things are you know, being
cleaned up from the winter and you know, getting the
salt off the street and cobwebs off of everything. So
we have planted about two hundred flower pots on the
public rights of way along the sidewalks. We've added several
(05:35):
bigger pots to our collection, and we are working on
some serious landscaping redo on South Forest Street. So this
is between Muhammad Ali and Broadway on the other side
of for Street Live. So if you walk this way,
I'm pointing south.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, just right there. That's one hundred yards that way though,
So yeah, you're just.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Talking about landscape where you're pointing there, that's.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
True, but you do I'm pointing right over your shoulder. Yeah,
So it's going right down that and like in front
of the Steal Box, yes, and then on down toward
Broadway down to the Brown h.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yes, down to the Brown Hotel. And this is a
significant two blocks that we're really putting a lot of
emphasis on. The mayor did put some money in his
recommended budget for some lighting and landscaping that we're going
to be working on. It just needs some love. We've
got a lot of vacant storefronts, and how do we
what is the public's role in LDP's role in trying
to bring businesses into those vacant.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Storefronts LDP's Louisville Downtown Partnership. So I'm just letting people know. Uh,
I like this idea too. Of the space next to
the river, the one lane they're going to make more
of a road. Yes, on River Road. This is another
good connector between Waterfront Park and the other half of
(06:49):
the waterfort.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah face four Yeah, so between third and seventh that
there's a calling it a multimodal project. So they're going
to be taking away the northernmost lane next to the river,
widening the river walk what is called the Louisville Loop,
so you can actually have more room to run, bike, skate,
roller board, whatever you want to do, and it will
(07:12):
connect so much better from the wharf all the way
to Playport. And you know, the eventual plan is to
extend River Road where it meets up with Rowan at fourteenth,
So it's going to be a nice, very big thoroughfare
that will get you all the way down the river.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I didn't know that that'll go.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, that's coming. So fourteenth, Yes, that's where we'll join up.
So it'll come to right now at eleventh and Rowan
is like where you enter Phase four, but it will
come right through there.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And yeah, because I ride a bike sometimes through there
and it's all that and there's a little bit of
disjointed area, like where am I supposed to go next
with it?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Right? Yeah, because I've.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Ridden all the way to Shawnee and back down Broadway
before and it's just a great.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Connection, beautiful ride. Yeah. Another thing about connection. I know
you didn't bring this up, but Jeff's Beeck was hired
by the city to do a walkability study in New
lou and Dtown. But it really is more about connectivity
and the traffic transportation network. So we're going to be
looking about looking at talking about making most of the
one way streets almost all of the streets in downtown
(08:11):
two way.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Interesting that's very nineteen fifties, right, is that the idea
is to throw it back because every storefront then gets.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Traffic visibility, yes both ways.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And it also slows the traffic.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It's a very big safety thing.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And because when there's like three going in one direction,
people think it's just a race.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Apparently the lanes on some of the roads, think Jefferson
Street are as wide as highway required roads, so you've
got all that room. So that's why people drive as
fast as they do. It's much narrower when you're on
Main Street between six and ninth. So I do think
that that's going to be really it's a five year plan.
I'm hoping we can do it in a short amount
of time, but really exciting in terms of better connectivity.
(08:55):
You're going to be able to get around easier, it'll
be make more sense, and it will just be a
much more walkable pedestrian friendly and I think it will
actually attract people.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Today market's got a little bit of infrastructure work I
guess going on. It must be pipes or whatever. And
then I'll get a cleared.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Up yeah, oh yeah, all of that will get cleared up.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Because that's a little bit of a walkability issue too.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
But yeah, So I mean we're just slowly but surely
like making these improvements that make downtown look and feel better.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
All good.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I have breaking news before you make me.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Like breaking news. I love breaking news. You're not going
to break something over my head.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I hope you like these rhymes.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Remember, yeah, I love rhyme time.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
We are going to be offering work perks.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Work park has been declared.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
At food truck Wednesdays. It will be the fourth food
truck Wednesday of the month, where the first it'll either
be fifty or one hundred, it depends what we're giving away.
Downtown workers will get a free something or other. So
for this next one, May twenty eighth, Yeah, it's the
fourth Wednesday, So food truck Wednesday. Come. It's during our
normal hours eleven to two. We're giving away to the
(09:58):
first fifty downtown workers. Bring an ID or a work
badge or something like that business card even and you
will get a toat that is branded with our beautiful
flurtally and you get a free bag of produce from
Sonny Acres Farm.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh loving the sound of that. Yeah, work perk perk.
I love all these little phrases. That's all good. Keep
up the great work. Rebecca, Thanks Terry. Rebecca fly Shaker,
executive director of Louisville Downtown Partnership. This downtown is looking
spiffy again. And when's the two way street thing? Like
three years, five years, next year.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Is when we'll really start. You'll see anything. Oh my goodness,
I'll start pretty.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I want to start riding my bike with my puppy
in a basket on the front. Now it sounds like
it sounds like we've rolled way back. I love the
sound of it. Great, see you again, thank you, coming
right back on news radio waight forty whas
You're on news radio eight forty WS. Terry miners here.
Rebecca fly Shaker has returned to the seat of the crime.
She's executive director of Louisville Downtown Partnership. Let's see, Sorry,
I had a chord in my way, Rebecca. It is
great to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
So good to see you too.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey, I say this, Our city looks beautiful right now,
and I'm thinking you had something to do with that.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wow. We like to put things in the public rights
of way that people get to enjoy looking at and yesterday,
as of yesterday, get to enjoy hearing and playing.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh yeah, that's right. The piano deal.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Downtown two, tell me what's happening.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You put pianos in various locations.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We have four pianos that we so this is kind
of funny. We got three two and a half years ago,
a call saying, hey, do you want a piano? And
I'm like, what do you do with it? Let me
think about that. Sure, why not? And then we told
a board member and he was like, I want to
give you a piano. And then we got a third
piano from a friend of mine who heard that the
first person had give it a piano. And then the
(00:57):
mover who was moving our piano said I am a piano.
We're like, great, what the heck are we going to do?
So we worked with J. Graham Brown's School and Francis
Parker School and their arts programs and they they are
student art students designed and painted four different pianos and
we put them out on the street. So we unveiled
those yesterday and they are in four different locations, so
(01:19):
you will just bump into them. We probably will be
putting a few more out.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Is this something you saw when you were vacation in Copenhagen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I have never been to Cobenhagen, but it is. They
are our other cities that have this program. I love
researched it because I looked it up. Like what do
we do?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I knew you do you research everything? Well, what a
brilliant idea, but not mine.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah. There's a couple of questions. It's like, after a
certain hour, do we tell people not to do that
because they are people sleeping.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
That's a perfect well, not that these things are going
to wake you up, but they are only available, which
means they're only uncovered from nine am to nine pm. Ah,
we do put covers on them. They are waterproof people.
The comments that we're seeing on Facebook are hilarious. They
they might get a little damage, but they are old,
very old. They've lived their useful time, and this really
(02:07):
was a way to extend them, a way to get
a nice use in our public spaces and especially perk
up like some old, dead public spaces that weren't getting
any attention. But it's these pianos aren't going to be
the greatest pianos. Don't expect a concert level piano. They
get tuned. They've just been tuned.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, that was my next question is because piano tuners
they're very, very persnickety about that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So they are, but this particular tuner is like, this
is cool. I will tune it to this level, but
not beyond it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Right, It's not going to be a Steinway concert at
Carnegie Hall.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
However, guess who sat down and played at one of
them yesterday.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I think I know his name is Teddy Abrams.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Mister Abram.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
We love this.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Being able to play music and express yourself, whether it's
in a very public way or perhaps in a more private,
intimate way, is a big part of what keeps societies
and communities together and what allows us to bridge our
many divides.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I posted a video of him on Instagram a year
or two ago. He was at a private residence and
he and another pianist improvised this thing for nine minutes.
It was so brilliant. That guy is unbelievable different. Yeah,
I mean just the way and the two of them
they were able to sort of work with each other.
And after they were finished, I said, now, had you
(03:29):
worked it out in advance? He goes, no, We just
sort of balance off and bounce off each other. I mean,
people in that realm have this. This can do it
all the tea.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
This gift is so great, So good for getting Teddy
Abrams to do it, and he actually played the piano.
May we listen? Sure we can? So obviously it's great
(04:03):
to have the support of Teddy Abrams.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah. Well, and his comments really did reflect we need,
we want. We're a better community because we have music
in the arts in our community and let's make them
more accessible in public, and that is exactly what this
program does.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, it's cool and thank you. I don't know who
picked the locations, but one of them is close to
our studios just down there.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
We picked the location.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
We love because there's a lot of people come through
here all the time, and summer visitors, some are locals
that are just going to lunch or whatever. Work with
these various offices, that's going to thrill a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I assume we're going to learn a lot just by
putting these out. Just yesterday already we just got a
suggestion to put a sign on it that says you
can play this or sit down and play or whatever,
so the people know that it is meant for you
to actually sit down. It's not an art piece to exactly, no,
please play, we want the music. And I said this yesterday.
You know how you what you see and hear in
(04:57):
a public space has everything to do with how you
feel about being in that space. And this is going
to change another level of how you feel in a space.
And I'm really excited.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Love it arts in the air. Yeah so, and it's
also the last time you were here, we talked about,
you know, cleaning up, getting everything, and that's what I
started our conversation with. We look good.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh yeah, thanks, we do look good. I mean spring
is always everything's blooming. Finally, things are you know, being
cleaned up from the winter and you know, getting the
salt off the street and cobwebs off of everything. So
we have planted about two hundred flower pots on the
public rights of way along the sidewalks. We've added several
(05:35):
bigger pots to our collection, and we are working on
some serious landscaping redo on South Forest Street. So this
is between Muhammad Ali and Broadway on the other side
of for Street Live. So if you walk this way,
I'm pointing south.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, just right there. That's one hundred yards that way though,
So yeah, you're just.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Talking about landscape where you're pointing there, that's.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
True, but you do I'm pointing right over your shoulder. Yeah,
So it's going right down that and like in front
of the Steal Box, yes, and then on down toward
Broadway down to the Brown h.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yes, down to the Brown Hotel. And this is a
significant two blocks that we're really putting a lot of
emphasis on. The mayor did put some money in his
recommended budget for some lighting and landscaping that we're going
to be working on. It just needs some love. We've
got a lot of vacant storefronts, and how do we
what is the public's role in LDP's role in trying
to bring businesses into those vacant.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Storefronts LDP's Louisville Downtown Partnership. So I'm just letting people know. Uh,
I like this idea too. Of the space next to
the river, the one lane they're going to make more
of a road. Yes, on River Road. This is another
good connector between Waterfront Park and the other half of
(06:49):
the waterfort.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah face four Yeah, so between third and seventh that
there's a calling it a multimodal project. So they're going
to be taking away the northernmost lane next to the river,
widening the river walk what is called the Louisville Loop,
so you can actually have more room to run, bike, skate,
roller board, whatever you want to do, and it will
(07:12):
connect so much better from the wharf all the way
to Playport. And you know, the eventual plan is to
extend River Road where it meets up with Rowan at fourteenth,
So it's going to be a nice, very big thoroughfare
that will get you all the way down the river.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I didn't know that that'll go.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, that's coming. So fourteenth, Yes, that's where we'll join up.
So it'll come to right now at eleventh and Rowan
is like where you enter Phase four, but it will
come right through there.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And yeah, because I ride a bike sometimes through there
and it's all that and there's a little bit of
disjointed area, like where am I supposed to go next
with it?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Right? Yeah, because I've.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Ridden all the way to Shawnee and back down Broadway
before and it's just a great.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Connection, beautiful ride. Yeah. Another thing about connection. I know
you didn't bring this up, but Jeff's Beeck was hired
by the city to do a walkability study in New
lou and Dtown. But it really is more about connectivity
and the traffic transportation network. So we're going to be
looking about looking at talking about making most of the
one way streets almost all of the streets in downtown
(08:11):
two way.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Interesting that's very nineteen fifties, right, is that the idea
is to throw it back because every storefront then gets.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Traffic visibility, yes both ways.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And it also slows the traffic.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It's a very big safety thing.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And because when there's like three going in one direction,
people think it's just a race.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Apparently the lanes on some of the roads, think Jefferson
Street are as wide as highway required roads, so you've
got all that room. So that's why people drive as
fast as they do. It's much narrower when you're on
Main Street between six and ninth. So I do think
that that's going to be really it's a five year plan.
I'm hoping we can do it in a short amount
of time, but really exciting in terms of better connectivity.
(08:55):
You're going to be able to get around easier, it'll
be make more sense, and it will just be a
much more walkable pedestrian friendly and I think it will
actually attract people.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Today market's got a little bit of infrastructure work I
guess going on. It must be pipes or whatever. And
then I'll get a cleared.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Up yeah, oh yeah, all of that will get cleared up.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Because that's a little bit of a walkability issue too.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
But yeah, So I mean we're just slowly but surely
like making these improvements that make downtown look and feel better.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
All good.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I have breaking news before you make me.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Like breaking news. I love breaking news. You're not going
to break something over my head.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I hope you like these rhymes.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Remember, yeah, I love rhyme time.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
We are going to be offering work perks.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Work park has been declared.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
At food truck Wednesdays. It will be the fourth food
truck Wednesday of the month, where the first it'll either
be fifty or one hundred, it depends what we're giving away.
Downtown workers will get a free something or other. So
for this next one, May twenty eighth, Yeah, it's the
fourth Wednesday, So food truck Wednesday. Come. It's during our
normal hours eleven to two. We're giving away to the
(09:58):
first fifty downtown workers. Bring an ID or a work
badge or something like that business card even and you
will get a toat that is branded with our beautiful
flurtally and you get a free bag of produce from
Sonny Acres Farm.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh loving the sound of that. Yeah, work perk perk.
I love all these little phrases. That's all good. Keep
up the great work. Rebecca, Thanks Terry. Rebecca fly Shaker,
executive director of Louisville Downtown Partnership. This downtown is looking
spiffy again. And when's the two way street thing? Like
three years, five years, next year.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Is when we'll really start. You'll see anything. Oh my goodness,
I'll start pretty.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I want to start riding my bike with my puppy
in a basket on the front. Now it sounds like
it sounds like we've rolled way back. I love the
sound of it. Great, see you again, thank you, coming
right back on news radio waight forty whas
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com