Mayor Jim Gray speaks Tuesday morning during the launch of "Green Up for Breeders' Cup," a public-private initiative to improve key corridors into the city.
Lexington officials are looking to the business community to help spruce up several key corridors into the city ahead the Breeders’ Cup at the end of October.
Mayor Jim Gray and members of the Keep Lexington Beautiful Commission made their initial pitch Tuesday morning for the new public-private initiative dubbed “Green Up for Breeders’ Cup.”
“What do you do when you have guests coming over?” Gray said, referencing the expected influx of tens of thousands of visitors for the horse racing event to be held at Keeneland on Oct. 30 and 31. “You clean up.”
Gray, along with Susan Plueger, director of the city’s Division of Environmental Services, spoke about the plans and sought sponsorships during their presentation at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The city is seeking sponsorships ranging from $2,500 to $12,500 to help fund cleanup, plantings and landscaping improvements along four key corridors into the city. The plan may be expanded if it is successful, but the initial areas are:
● Iron Works Pike / Georgetown Road from the Kentucky Horse Park entrance to New Circle Road.
● Man O’ War Boulevard from Versailles Road to Harrodsburg Road.
● Newtown Pike from Main Street to Interstate Highway 75.
● Versailles Road / West High Street from Fayette County line to West Maxwell.
The sponsorships are being offered first come-first served, and signs at the sites will acknowledge the top sponsors.
Central Bank and Gray Construction jumped in Tuesday to claim the first couple of full sponsorships.
Plueger said the private funds will pay for the initial plantings and landscaping, with the city Environmental Services agency taking on the task of ongoing maintenance. The goal, she said, is to expand the program to include as many as 16 areas.
Gray said the spotlight Breeders’ Cup will cast on the city made the timing of the initiative key, saying there was “never a better moment for Lexington to be at its best.”