page_title: Louisville Museum Plaza
section_title: Growing larger
hierarchical_section_title: Louisville Museum Plaza / History / Growing larger
caption_attribution_description: English: The future Museum Plaza site in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
context_page_description: Louisville Museum Plaza was a 62-story skyscraper that was planned for Louisville, Kentucky, United States. By August 1, 2011, despite the expenditure of public funds on its behalf, its developers had officially announced that they were abandoning plans to build it. The 703-foot tall skyscraper was projected to cost $490 million and contain a 1-acre public plaza and park, condominiums, lofts, a hotel, retail shops and a museum. If built, it would have replaced the AEGON Center as the tallest building in Kentucky. The avant-garde design of the skyscraper was chosen by New York City REX architect Joshua Prince-Ramus. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 25, 2007, and construction at that time was expected to be complete by 2010. Delays disrupted the project. Prior to announcing that the project had been abandoned, Craig Greenberg, one of the projects four developers, had stated that he was "hopeful that construction will start this year [2010]" and that he also expected the project to be completed by late 2012.
context_section_description: On December 6, 2006, it was announced that Museum Plaza was becoming larger. The $380 million price tag had risen to $465 million due to several additions to the complex, adjacent roadway improvements and rising basic material costs; new alterations to the city's waterfront would entail more work for the city and state. The announcement also stated that the project would contain a 246-room Westin Hotel, the addition of 14 luxury condominiums for a total of 99, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m²). park that would connect to the nearby Muhammad Ali Center, and for the demolition of the LG&E tower at Eighth Street. The proposed project grew to contain 1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m²). of space, a 40,000 sq ft (4,000 m²). contemporary art museum, 20,000 sq ft (2,000 m²). of restaurants and retail space, 99 luxury condominiums, 117 lofts, a 246-room hotel, office space and an 800-car underground parking garage.
  In the revisions, the number of lofts was lowered from 150 to 117 because the University of Louisville's Master of Fine Arts program was intending to move to Museum Plaza; this would have given the school additional room. The arts program, covering 36,500 sq ft (3,390 m²). over four levels, was to include a glass-making shop. The hotel also lost 50 rooms in the process, but the addition of a ballroom, fitness center, spa, restaurant and bar would have made up for the difference.
  On January 22, 2007, it was announced that the number of lofts would be decreased to 108 and the number of luxury condominiums would be 95, a loss of four. The amount of proposed restaurant and retail space was increased to 40,000 sq ft (4,000 m²). It was also announced that there would be 16 floors with a total of 295,000 sq ft (27,400 m²). dedicated to offices. The total number of floors was also increased to 62.
  It was expected that, once construction began in May or June 2007, there would be 561 full-time workers employed at the construction site for three years. The developers claimed that the combined economic impact of the project was planned to be $900 million, which would have made it one of Kentucky's largest economic development projects.
caption: The proposed Museum Plaza location is adjacent to the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The viaduct at right carries Interstate 64. This was the former location of the proposed but never built Vencor Tower
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