Lexington’s Distillery District has secured a grant of more than $140,000 from the Lexington-Fayette Department of Environmental Quality & Public Works to aid stormwater management in the thriving entertainment area that has sprung up along Manchester Street and near Town Branch Creek.
The money will be used to install permeable pavers in patio areas and the parking lot, which was unpaved until recently. The grant was for $141,027, based on a request for $350,000, according to a news release by PepperMill LLC. The pavers, which reduce runoff and pollution when installed instead of asphalt or similar materials, are part of wider plan to reduce negative effects of greater use on the nearby watershed.
In August, good intentions — and $85,000 worth of asphalt — paved the way to an agreement that avoided a disastrous revocation of liquor licenses in the young entertainment district.
“This was us trying to look into our crystal ball a few years back,” Lexington developer Barry McNees at the time. “We had made a commitment that by December 2016 … to pave the lot on behalf of all the other owners there. That’s when we thought we’d have the need for it. So this parking lot has been a victim of our success.”
McNees and other property owners said they had hoped to know about the grant funding before laying down asphalt but ultimately complied to avoid problems with city permits.
McNees purchased the 47,000-square-foot former King’s Food Warehouse at 903 Manchester Street more than a decade ago. Since then, the 27-acre tract just west of Rupp Arena and downtown has emerged as a creative and inspired entertainment-oriented zone. Among the business that now call the district home are Barrel House Distillery, Ethereal Brewing, Middle Fork Kitchen Bar and Break Room.