"Karen Lewis came to Kentucky two years ago to accept a teaching position in UK's architecture department after finishing her degree at Harvard. In getting to know her new home, she learned of the Blue Grass Stockyard issue and immediately thought it would make an amazing project.
She took the idea of studying the stockyards to her students, and this past semester, six dedicated their time to researching the controversy surrounding the Horse Park and Midway sites. The result is a complete exhibit entitled Stock Exchange, a fresh and innovative look at the issues surrounding the relocation of the Blue Grass Stockyard.
Discovering the issues
Karen and the students approached the project by diagramming the lives of beef cattle, to gain a better understanding of Kentucky's cattle industry. They went out on cattle farms in the area to see how they operated, visited the stockyard to gain an understanding of the workings of the facility and did basic research on where the cow goes after the stockyard.
They attended the community action meetings in the Woodford County area to gain a better understanding of the community's view on the local stockyard. Lewis and the students also met with Gene Barber and other leaders involved at the stockyard to learn more about the obstacles they had faced.
'What we soon discovered was that the stockyard issue wasn't as much about farming as it was about business and economics," explained Lewis.
A better understanding of the industry and the stockyard debate brought four big issues to the forefront; manure problems, smells and sounds, transportation, and pollution concern. As Lewis and the students dove deeper into the project, there were two other main topics that caught their attention: the pervasive state image of the horse and how a community defines its identity.
"It was perfect; we had six topics, and the students each gravitated toward one of the topics," explained Lewis as she began describing the issues.
Issue no. 1: Manure
In almost any livestock operation the size of Blue Grass Stockyard, manure is an issue. Yet, Brock Hinze approached the problem by looking at ways to make the waste an asset for the stockyard.
Hinze looked at the proposed Midway location and developed a design that would utilize methane digesters in a closed system to power the entire facility. He discovered that the potential energy that the stockyard could produce from the methane would be able to power half of Midway.
"I think the interesting part of Hinze's project is that people think that if the stockyard go in, no one else would want to build there, but the manure could be an advantage to power the other industries," explained Matt Storrie, another student. "They could use the by-product to produce benefits for others."
Issue no. 2: Smells and noise
Along with manure comes the smell issue, and in an operation the size of the stockyard, people become concerned about the sounds. Catherine Lowery approached this issue by looking at general strategies to control sound and smell.
Taking the proposed Midway site, Lowery's project focused on the quality of life issue that is key to the Midway community. She took a large-scale site strategy and looked at ecological and remediation approaches for the area of the stockyard and surrounding fields. One proposal was the creation of fields of flowers around the stockyard that would absorb smells and provide public green space for the community.
Issue no. 3: Water pollution
What surprised Brian Buckner when he began looking at the water pollution issue at the Horse Park site was the fact that the karsts aquifer actually ran under the Horse Park, not the stockyard site.
Buckner recognized that there is always the chance of some manure runoff and typical oil runoff from the traffic, but with a closed manure system the stockyard should pose little threat to the aquifer. In fact, he noted that the number of horses producing manure and traffic that will be in the area during the FEI Games could pose a potentially greater threat to the ground water.
"I also learned that subdivision, private homes are a much greater threat to our groundwater, with all the chemicals they use and the oil leaking from vehicles," explained Buckner.
Issue no. 4: Transportation
Cattle are brought in from throughout Kentucky and surrounding states to sell at the Blue Grass Stockyard. Matt Storrie looked at the flow of the traffic into the stockyard, and developed an alternative to the traditional stockyard design.
Storrie's project looks at the potential of purchasing regional stockyard, which would bring the stockyard closer to the source of product. Instead of the Blue Grass owners investing in a new facility, an investment would be made in a fleet of special trucks designed not only to ship the cattle but also to allow for easy sorting of livestock.
Storrie designed a fleet headquarters and final sorting facility on the proposed Midway site. Since it would not be a traditional stockyard, the facility is designed to be partially underground, with a grass roof to blend with the area.
Issue no. 5: State image
Kentucky's image is tied to horses, from street names to the state logo. This is what Beth Hunter discovered when she began looking at how the cow is viewed in the eyes of a Kentuckian.
In her project, Hunter challenged the status quo of highlighting the horse and hiding the cow. She studied the Horse Park site and created a stockyard facility that brought the cattle out into the landscape. A modern stockyard with glass walls and open spaces allow the passing traffic to see the cattle as they move through the facility.
In a state where both cattle and horses rank fifth in production on a national level, Hunter's project attempted to elevate the imagery of the cow and the stockyard.
Issue no. 6: Local image
When established in 1833, Midway was a small railroad town with a booming agriculture community. Chris Clarke realized in this project that over time this focus on agriculture has transitioned, making Midway more of an arts and antique community.
Clarke approached his project from an urban planning point of view, taking the proposed site and creating an agriculture center. The center design would incorporate businesses that would work in tandem with the stockyards, such as a feed mill, restaurant, and hotel. Clarke estimated that a center could bring over 200 jobs into the community and large tax revenue.
"The money that is generated would help to restore buildings and put money back into the heart of the city," explained Clarke.
Exhibiting the Stock Exchange
Blue Grass Stockyard is a mighty business in the community, explained Lewis. Yet, its location and age doesn't really allow it to present itself in that manner.
"What motivated me to do the exhibit was I felt the group could visualize the stockyard in a beautiful way," said Lewis.
The students were able to use the strengths of the business to remove some of the negative shock images people tend to have of a stockyard.
"There are certain things that produce advantages," explained Matt Barton, one of students working with Lewis. "I think that is the way we produced our projects; we added something new and turned what people see as a disadvantage into an advantage."
Dave Maples, executive director for the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association, was so impressed by the show that he asked Lewis and the students to set up the Stock Exchange exhibit at the 2007 KCA Convention in January.
"The students took an innovative approach to the issues surrounding the stockyard and defiantly brought out ideas that will spark conversation," Maples said. "I think it will be great for addition to the convention."
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