Historic Trolley Barn Site Will House 

the Kentucky Center for African 

American Heritage 

Louisville, Kentucky 

continued �

The Russell neighborhood was once the vibrant heart of the African 

American community in the City of Louisville, Kentucky, and this 

neighborhood will soon be home to a museum and cultural center 

highlighting and honoring the contributions of African Americans to the 

city's and the state's history. 

Heritage will be established in the city's historic trolley barns and three 

other buildings that make up the complex, with the main trolley barn 

building serving as the primary exhibit hall. 

transportation-related purposes beginning in 1879, when it housed muledrawn trolleys. 

Because of its history, the trolley barn site was once thought to be 

unusable because of prohibitive cleanup costs associated with the site's 

perceived contamination. 

given this property new life-an environmental assessment conducted on 

the site using Pilot funds revealed minimal contamination that required 

only minor cleanup, and the museum project is now underway. 

groundbreaking for the heritage center took place in February 2003, and 

it will open to the public early in 2005. 

The trolley barn site lies within one of Louisville's old industrial corridors, 

part of which is littered with abandoned and underutilized properties that 

cost the city $8.7 million annually in lost property tax revenues. 

acre trolley barn property is a prime example of a site where the stigma 

of major environmental contamination discouraged any redevelopment 

interests-an earlier environmental assessment indicated that it would cost 

$30 million for cleanup. 

this 5,401-acre area, which is designated an Empowerment Zone, EPA 

awarded the city a $200,000 Brownfields Pilot Assessment grant in 

September 1995. 

Thanks to this EPA funding, Louisville was able to target the trolley barn 

site for a new environmental assessment, the results of which 

contradicted the previous $30 million cleanup estimate (which would have 

required soil removal and possible groundwater cleanup). 

estimate was based on the site's history, which most recently included a 

janitorial cleaning supply house where various pesticides and herbicides 

were blended. 

forward with soil cleanup at a cost of only $80,000, while remaining fully 

protective of the health and safety of local residents. 

were incurred for lead abatement and building stabilization. 

The Kentucky Center for African American 

The trolley barn was used for 

Later, mechanized trolleys were serviced there. 

However, an EPA Assessment Pilot grant has 

The 

The twoTo help address the barriers to redevelopment in 

The initial high 

Based on the new assessment, the city was able to move 

Additional costs 

The old trolley barn property, 

prior to restoration 

JUST THE FACTS:
 • The trolley barn site lies within one of 

Louisville's old industrial corridors, part of 

which is littered with abandoned and 

underutilized properties that cost the city 

$8.7 million annually in lost property tax 

revenues. 

• EPA's Brownfields Pilot targeted the trolley 

barn site for an environmental assessment, 

the results of which contradicted a previous, 

$30 million cleanup estimate. 

• Based on the updated assessment, the city 

was able to move forward with soil cleanup 

at a cost of only $80,000, while remaining 

fully protective of the health and safety of 

local residents. 

Because of its history, 

the trolley barn site was once thought 

to be unusable because of prohibitive cleanup 

costs associated with the site's perceived 

contamination. PA Assessment 

Pilot grant has given this property new life—an 

environmental assessment conducted on the site 

with Pilot funds revealed minimal contamination 

that required only minor cleanup. 

soon be home to an African American 

museum and cultural center. 

However, an E

The site will 
CONTACTS: 

For more information contact 

U.S. EPA-Region 4 

(404) 562-8661 

Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

The trolley barn property is now on its way to becoming home to the Kentucky 

Center for African American Heritage. 

barn features an elegant clerestory and will house the primary exhibit hall. 

The idea for this museum/cultural center was submitted to the City Housing 

and Urban Development Department by the Louisville and Jefferson 

County African American Heritage Committee. 

Bradshaw, chairperson for the committee, the museum will "be 

something that's significant to the entire community. 

African Americans-everybody will be proud of what the museum can 

be." 

in Kentucky from the pioneer days through the civil rights movement, 

including such well-known figures as York, a slave who made a 

significant contribution to the Lewis and Clark expedition. 

The African American Heritage Foundation partners in the heritage 

center, including federal, state, and city governments, financed a $2.5 million 

project to stabilize the four buildings of the trolley barn complex. 

are owned by the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and are to be 

leased to the foundation for $1 a year. 

trolley barn building and ready it for exhibits will be paid for with additional state, city, and private 

funding. 

Heritage Foundation will seek private donations and will likely receive some funding from the metro 

government. 

The complex's 40,000-square-foot main 

According to Lora 

It won't just be 

Exhibits in the museum will tell the stories of African Americans 

The buildings 

The $7.8 million needed to renovate the main 

An additional $2.5 million will need to be raised to finance the creation of the exhibits. The 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-00-254 

Louisville, Kentucky and Emergency March 2004 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/