This thing's pretty much a go at this point...
Museum Plaza gets state aid
By Joseph Gerth
jgerth@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Monday, March 12, 2007
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Museum Plaza project for downtown Louisville cleared a major hurdle today when the General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the use of $130.million in state and local tax revenue for road, floodwall and other improvements in connection with the $465.million project.
“Museum Plaza will be built,” said Craig Greenberg, a member of the project’s development team, which was waiting for approval of the legislation as the last piece of the economic puzzle for the 62-story riverfront structure at Seventh Street and River Road in Louisville. “We will definitely have shovels in the ground later this year.”
Final passage came after the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee made changes in House Bill 549 to allow such tax benefits for similar large-scale projects throughout the state.
The bill passed the Senate 35-1. The House approved Senate changes 85-11. And Jodi Whitaker, spokeswoman for Gov. Ernie Fletcher, said he will sign the bill.
“I’m tickled to death,” said House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, the Louisville
Democrat who shepherded the bill through the House. “It’s the biggest project that will ever be built in Jefferson County using private and public money. I’m just glad it’s done.”
Saying the bill would help people in Kentucky “build buildings that can be seen from the moon,” Senate President David Williams urged passage of the legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate.
“This is a great day for the Kentucky Senate and a great day for business,” said Senate Democratic Floor Leader Ed Worley, who worked with Williams and others over the weekend to hammer out a final version of the bill.
Read more in Friday’s Courier-Journal and at courier-journal.com
----------------------------------
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...S0101/70312061
Threaded Mode