Fourth Street Live! is a

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

complex located on 4th Street, between Liberty and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. It is owned and was developed by the Cordish Company; it was designed by Louisville architects, Bravura Corporation. Fourth Street Live! first opened to the public on June 1, 2004, and all stores were completed for the grand opening on October 30, 2004. City planners hoped that the district would attract further commercial business development while providing an attractive entertainment venue for the city's hotel and tourist business as well as the local population. Traffic on 4th Street through the complex is closed and covered for large public gatherings such as music concerts and other events.

History

Background

Fourth Street Live! began as a downtown revitalization project to redesign and modernize the former ''Louisville Galleria'', a similar but unsuccessful project opened in the early 1980s with the same goals of revitalizing downtown. The Galleria, in turn, had been built on the site of the ''River City Mall'', which opened in 1973, also with similar goals of revitalizing downtown. Fourth Street itself had long been the main shopping and entertainment destination in Downtown Louisville. The idea of turning Fourth Street into a pedestrian mall actually dates back to 1943, when mayor Wilson W. Wyatt suggested the idea. Proposals were drafted over the years but funding for the $1.5 million River City Mall project was not secured until 1971. The mall originally stretched all the way from Liberty to Broadway, and was initially successful, but over the years vehicular traffic was slowly reintroduced and the mall scaled back.

Tenant changes

On February 16, 2007, the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau opened its new Visitor Information Center at the North entrance to Fourth Street Live. The new center totals nearly , and includes two permanent exhibits, where visitors can learn about the stories of two of Kentucky's most famous icons: Kentucky Bourbon and Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's s ...

. The center will also supply information to outside passersby via a high-tech video wall that will run video on different cultural events and attractions.

Expansion

On May 8, 2017, the Cordish Company announced that it will expand the district with the addition of Spark Louisville, a new collaborative workspace coming in 2018.

Events

The

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

's annual "Run for the L of It" 5K begins and ends at Fourth Street Live. Also, the finish line of the Louisville

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

, which debuted in 2007, is located at Fourth Street Live. The Venue also holds annual events celebrating the Kentucky Derby and was the "Cup Village" when Louisville hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup and often holds pep rallies and celebrations for the

's athletic teams including for the teams that made the 2005 Final Four, 2007 Orange Bowl, and the 2007 College World Series. During the Summer, Fourth Street Live hosts Summer Concert Series, which is a series of concerts featuring top national acts. A Mardi Gras parade,

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

trick-or-treating, and a

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

celebration are other annual events which are at the venue. The venue will also be part of the city's annual holiday season extravaganza, Holiday in the City.

References

External links

*
The Cordish Companies
– developed and operates Fourth Street Live! {{Shopping malls in Kentucky Shopping malls in Kentucky Shopping malls established in 2004 Tourist attractions in Louisville, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky The Cordish Companies 2004 establishments in Kentucky Music venues in Louisville, Kentucky