LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two big announcements in two days; both Humana and Fifth Third Bank announce they were leaving their buildings in the heart of downtown Louisville.
Now, 11 candidates hope to fill downtown's crucial and influential District 4 Metro Council seat, lining up during a time of change and uncertainty for the downtown area.
Ken Herndon, one of the 11 candidates, has worked in downtown Louisville for more than 20 years. He's now running to represent the businesses and downtown residents of District 4.
“Louisville was born in the 4th District," he said. "Even with the recent news, downtown is booming on the weekends, we have a huge tourist business, we have lots of events still down here. Like every downtown, we’ve suffered with office vacancies and COVID and work from home and lifestyle changes – but we need to address that like everybody else would. We’ll be fine.”
Herndon said the Central Business District in Louisville is economically the most important square mile in Kentucky.
"It’s health is critical to the state, critically to this community, and particularly important to the neighborhoods that surround it," he said.
Long-time Louisvillian Dennisha Rivers is also running for the District 4 council seat.
"We want to make sure we are protecting the investment of these companies, these families, and the people that live in this district," she said. "With Fifth Third and Humana, we want to make sure our companies are staying downtown.”
Both Rivers and Herndon heard from downtown businesses and residents as they figure out what's next in the wake of the two companies relocating.
"I've heard their concerns," Rivers said. "I've heard they lost a lot of money, they can barely pay their lease, I heard a lot of the concerns were safety and just keeping the businesses down there."
Herndon said they've been "uneasy...but that's okay."
"Growth and development and changes are always scary, but again if we can work with these class-A buildings and make sure that we can help then retool themselves, that positive ripple effect will come down," Herndon said.
As the race for the District 4 seat continues, downtown Louisville remains top of mind.
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