M. David Nichols
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NoLi CDC Executive Director Richard Young announces the group's award of $550,000 from the Knight Cities Challenge during an event at West Sixth Brewing.
The nonprofit community organization behind the popular Night Market events has been awarded more than half a million dollars by the Knight Foundation to develop a permanent site to serve as a food hub and small-business incubator.
The North Limestone Community Development Corp., known as NoLi CDC, will receive $550,000. The money will be used to help turn a former Greyhound bus terminal on North Limestone into a hub that will bring better, local food into the neighborhood and offer space for nascent businesses.
“I think this could change all of Lexington, if this public market is a huge success. Other public markets in other cities become such an identifier for the city,” said NoLi CDC board president Griffin VanMeter, pointing to institutions such as Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market as an example.
VanMeter said the project saved the building from demolition and predicted it ultimately will create an “impact economy” of activity and interest in the area.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and currently is owned by the Lexington Transit Authority, which backed NoLi CDC’s grant application.
It is the second highest award granted this year in the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Cities Challenge. The program funds community projects in cities where Knight company once owned newspapers, including the Lexington Herald-Leader. This year’s 32 winners were chosen from among more than 7,000 entries.