Lexington, KY - In economic times like these, it's difficult to raise money for anything that promises business as usual, according to Lexington entrepreneur, developer and dreamer Phil Holoubek. A plan to double the space of Lexington's Living Arts & Science Center (LASC) house in an antebellum mansion built by Abraham Lincoln's attorney in 1847 on Martin Luther King Boulevard is anything but.
"We're changing the community," said Holoubek, co-chair of the center's Imagine This capital campaign along with his wife, Marnie Clay Holoubek, and honorary chair Gloria Singletary. "You've got world-class architecture in combination with incredible programming. This is a project that is going to move the needle."
The supplementary facilities envisioned in the adjoining 10,000-square-foot structure to be designed by the Louisville firm De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop read like a creative's dream.
The LASC plans to build a planetarium, which will serve as "a science learning space that we currently don't have in our community," according to Holoubek.
"Learning about science, technology and engineering is imperative to the success of a city," Holoubek said. "Focusing on science and giving kids an opportunity is critical."
Then there's the digital media center. "This will give kids a chance to do more than put a photo on a computer," said Holoubek. "How about making a short film or movie?"
How about recording a music track or an album? The LASC will be fully equipped with a state-of-the-art recording studio.
"We're going to have professional sound mixers and high-level, professional sound equipment," Holoubek continued.
"We're going to be coming down here even more often, because it's a cost-effective way for us to expose our children to more technology," said Chuck Baldecchi, headmaster at The Lexington School. "If you do it yourself, it's so expensive. For the center to take this on provides a great opportunity for our students to learn without us using the resources ourselves."
A children's art gallery, full of natural light, will give young Kentuckians pride in their visual work.
"When you display children's art in a big public space, it creates this intangible sense that their work is important," said Holoubek. "Imagine being able to say, as a young person, that your art is hanging in a gallery in downtown Lexington."
Healthy and locally grown foods are an integral part of the LASC expansion as well.
"We're trying to create healthy lifestyles and to educate people on healthy diets," he said. "One of the missing pieces to close that loop has been a teaching kitchen."
Vegetables, fruits and herbs harvested from community gardens will have a community kitchen for their preparation. Cooking is part art and part science; LASC is part education and part community organization.
"Several groups, including Seedleaf and the Bluegrass Community Foundation, are already promoting healthy eating education programs for northside neighborhoods around town," said Holoubek. "This is an example of the collaboration of LASC programming. You have several organizations working together without duplicating services."
Other additions to the center include a sculpture garden, amphitheater and outdoor rooftop gardens. And although the LASC is expanding, the center will actually have more greenspace, due to tiered and rooftop gardens.
The LASC expansion couldn't have come too soon. "With our work providing arts and science programs in schools and for social service agencies and community centers, we serve over 30,000 children each year. Last year alone, schools from 22 counties brought students to the center, which annually presents more than 400 art classes and workshops for children 18 months-old to adults," said LASC executive director Heather Lyons. "The facility houses more than half a dozen art exhibits in a given year and offers participatory field trips for over 6000 students."
"Currently, there is more demand than the space allows," said Holoubek. "We've got kids visiting from all over Kentucky, learning about space in a temporary, inflatable planetarium. We're going to be able to give them the real thing."
The space and structure is one thing, but the training and classes that LASC plans to offer will bring the facility to another level.
Inspired by Pittsburgh native Bill Strickland's work in the inner-city neighborhood where he grew up, LASC supporters hope to expand upon Strickland's motto: Environment drives behavior.
At 19, Strickland established Manchester-Bidwell, the now-famous arts and job-training center for disadvantaged kids and adults. Strickland created a national model for adult retraining and job placement by working directly with the major employers in the region to produce workers with industry-ready skills.
"If you treat people like world-class citizens, that is what they will become," Strickland has said.
"We're most excited about what this type of programming represents," said Holoubek. "Although our missions aren't necessarily the same, Strickland's ideas have resonated with young professionals in Lexington who want to try and think outside the box. Strickland's programs are some of the types of programs that you're going to see at the LASC."
Strickland was the keynote speaker at Lexington's Creative Cities Summit in April 2010.
"I think it's brilliant," said Lexington Mayor Jim Gray. "This project is an example of great urban planning and great architecture that respects the character of the historic neighborhood and lifts it up. This is extremely exciting."
From the beginning of the process, the LASC expansion has been a community effort.
"LASC made sure that the architects communicated with neighbors," said Holoubek. "We asked residents what they wanted to see in the building and if it would improve the neighborhood. We never dictated. We discussed decisions."
Collaboration will continue throughout design, construction and programming as well.
"Downtown buildings are so close to downtown neighborhoods here in Lexington, so you have to be respectful," said Holoubek. "The new addition will expand the center's reach and programming for all Kentuckians and for LASC's neighbors as well."
"The LASC has been a great neighbor and has a good track record over its years of community involvement," said Lexington Urban County Council member at-large Steve Kay, who lives about a block away. "The center offers the kinds of programming that no one else does, but they also focus a lot of attention on the neighborhood."
Kay is looking forward to the LASC's community kitchen, as it will tie in nicely with the community garden close by.
"The kitchen will give locals the ability to learn more about cooking, canning and preserving," he said. "With our community's increased emphasis on local foods and eating healthy, the kitchen will be quite an asset."
Kentucky Arts Council executive director Lori Meadows sees the LASC expansion as a model for the rest of the state and region.
"We strive to help arts organizations become more central to other local groups and to the economic and social aspects of community development," she said. "I can see the whole planning process that went into the LASC expansion as something communities could learn from."
Meadows said she was especially impressed at the efforts that LASC and DeLeon & Primmer made in working with the surrounding neighborhood.
"The architects went as far as making sure that the houses on Campsie Place fit with building structure. They did not want to be detrimental to the neighborhood," she said. "The process that the center went through was so complete and inclusive. They weren't just taking an historic building and putting on an addition."
De Leon & Primmer, the recipient of numerous American Institute of Architects Kentucky Honor and Merit awards, was a perfect fit, according to both Kay and Holoubek.
"We envision a living and interactive space that embraces and utilizes the practices that we teach," Holoubek said. "We're fortunate to have them on board."
The LASC expansion is the latest of recent proposals to breathe new economic, cultural and social life into Lexington's Northside and East End neighborhoods. News of the plan to expand LASC comes a month after a partnership of local investors announced plans for the Bread Box, the conversion of the former Rainbo Bread factory on West Sixth Street into a micro-brewery with additional space for local businesses and community organizations.
LASC's Imagine This campaign aims to raise $5 million in total, but Holoubek hopes to begin construction this spring. Momentum to fund the expansion got a major boost this past May when the LASC received a $1 million matching grant from the Lucille Caudill Little Foundation. LASC has raised over $300,000 in matching funds to date.
"With this expansion, the organization will be able to far better fulfill its mission," Holoubek said. "Never before has a project had so much possibility."