The march of student housing developments continues in Lexington, this time striking a blow in a new part of the Aylesford Neighborhood, near Woodland Park: the Woodland Triangle, once home to Ramsey’s, and a long-cherished collection of commercial buildings. There is a public meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 28, 6:30 pm at Woodland Christian Church to discuss the zone change request, which will result in the demolition of at least six historic buildings between East High and East Maxwell Streets, and bring yet another seven-story student apartment building to town.
This two-story frame building, once home to Ramsey’s, is among those slated for demolition. Image from Google Streetview.
While I will be the first to admit that this collection of buildings are careworn (“dated” commercial buildings is the description used in the developer’s marketing piece), and have been allowed to deteriorate for around 40 years, I don’t know that this proposed development is the answer to Lexington’s housing problem.
The rendering of the proposed new building. Get ready Lexington! Aquatic life forms coming soon to you!*
Oh wait – this isn’t intended for residents of Lexington. Silly, silly me.
The justified need for increased density and additional affordable housing units in Lexington is answered by the construction of privately-owned dormitories for students! Students with parents with deep pockets!
Streetscape view of the buildings in question. Thanks Google Streetview.
And I really take umbrage at the glossy piece of marketing with multiple Wendell Berry quotes, allusions to Botticelli, and the name-dropping of historic local buildings and Clay Lancaster.
I can’t even…**
I’m an architectural historian. I love purple prose. I’m well-versed in academic language that spills many words on the page without saying anything – something one of my friends and colleagues likes to call “keeping the feather in the air,” a description particularly apt after sitting through several hours of paper presentations at a conference. In other words, it’s a bunch of bs to justify new construction that finds inspiration in other new construction, not within the existing built environment.
Because if this is how Lexington allows UK to expand without UK being involved – and just look at what is happening to Maxwell west of Rose Street (yes, yes, another collection of buildings left undermaintained by landlords) – then what is to stop the rest of the quirky Woodland Triangle from undergoing the same transformation, the emergence of “something new coming into being from the waters of the unknown”?***
I better go put some boots on. It’s getting pretty deep around here.
*Titan Investments, page 44
**Titan Investments, page 40
***Titan Investments, page 44
