Renderings of designs by NBBJ and EOP Architects
Lexington, KY – Mayor Jim Gray said he will put on the full court press in Frankfort as the legislative session draws to a close to ensure the planed Rupp Arena renovation and adjacent district gets funded after the state Senate removed $65 million for the project and many other general fund allocations in its version of the two-year state budget.
“We are going to work as hard in the corridors of Frankfort as the Cats work on the basketball court because this is an idea whose time has come,” Gray said in a statement from his office.
“This project will announce to the nation that Kentucky is open for business. It will create good jobs for the long term. Jobs grown through elevating, amplifying, lifting up the Kentucky brand, the Lexington brand and the UK brand.”
In addition of a major overhaul of the venerable home of the Wildcats, the plan calls for relocating and expanding the city’s convention center and using both as a catalyst for major downtown economic enhancement through the development of Rupp’s High Street parking lot.
An overall plan for how the city will fund the project is awaiting the final state budget, Gray has told Business Lexington.
In the previous budget, legislators put up $3.5 million toward planning for the Rupp District.
The Senate passed its version with 25 in favor, two against and 11 voting “pass.”
The two nays came from Republican legislators, as most Democrats registered passes. Sen. Julian Carroll, a Democrat from Frankfort, whose district includes Woodford County, was one of three Dems voting in favor of the budget.
Votes from senators representing areas in or surrounding Fayette County:
Yes
Sen. Tom Buford (R-Nicholasville)
Sen. Jared Carpenter (R-Berea)
Sen. Julian M. Carroll (D-Frankfort)
Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington)
Sen. Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown)