Reopened libraries to supporting kids: How Louisville plans to use next $87M in ARP funds

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville's fourth round of federal American Rescue Plan dollars will include $87.4 million to support youth and child care initiatives, invest in parks and pools and reopen library branches in Parkland and Fern Creek.

If approved by Metro Council members, the funding could benefit neighborhoods throughout the city and result in "lots of smiles" for residents, Mayor Greg Fischer said, as the city continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fischer was joined inside Metro Hall by several Metro Council members Tuesday afternoon to announce how the $87,387,000 that makes up Louisville's fourth round of ARP funds could be spent.

Louisville received a total of $388 million after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law in March 2021.

Kentucky politics: Despite order halting new law, some women still can't get abortion in Kentucky. Here's why

Metro Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th District, who chairs the Budget Committee, noted that $53 million remains unallocated. City leaders are hoping to determine where that money will go by the end of November, he said, with a focus on workforce development.

The ordinance allocating the fourth round of ARP money will first go to the Metro Council Budget Committee for discussion at its May 12 meeting and, if approved, then go before the full council for a vote at its May 19 meeting.

The ARP money does not last forever, and Louisville saw several libraries and pools that would be affected by the new ordinance close in 2019 following citywide budget cuts.

Fischer, whose third and final term will end in January, said the next mayor who replaces him in 2023 and future Metro Council members will have additional decisions to make.

"But what we were not going to do is not invest this money today to see how we can improve the city," Fischer said.

Here are some highlights of this next round of funding:

Parkland and Fern Creek libraries, renovations to other branches

Library lovers, take note. If the fourth round of ARP funding gets the green light, then Parkland and Fern Creek could have libraries once again and other branches in the Louisville Free Public Library system could see upgrades.

The proposed ordinance includes $800,000 to renovate and reopen the Parkland library, which was built in 1899 and closed in the 1980s.

Located at 2743 Virginia Ave. in the West End neighborhood, it had been one of the city's nine Carnegie libraries. It's currently home to the Louisville Metro Police Department's Professional Standards Unit.

Various advocates and Parkland residents over the year have called for the library to reopen, especially as the historic neighborhood has undergone a quiet renaissance.

Bringing back "essential services" for "literacy needs" and "programmatic needs with our arts and culture institutions" while also "having a place to come right in the middle of our historic neighborhood is so important," Metro Councilman Jecorey Arthur, D-4th, said.

Butchertown tiki bar: A new bar with patio space, view of the soccer stadium, to open

Leaders are also pitching $5 million to reopen a library branch in the Fern Creek area. The previous branch had been located at 6768 Bardstown Road in the Cedar Springs Shopping Center before shuttering amid citywide budget cuts about three years ago.

"Ideally, the branch would be located farther south on the Bardstown Road corridor than the previous location, in recognition of the growing population in the southeastern part of the county and outside of the Gene Snyder Freeway," a project description attached to the new ordinance says.

The Main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system, located at 301 York St. just south of downtown, would get $8 million for renovations and expansion under the ARP ordinance. And the Portland branch at 3305 Northwestern Parkway would get $800,000 for renovations and expansion as well.

Expand child care access

Officials pitched $7.5 million to support child care providers and early learning projects in Louisville.

The projects will focus on "immediate COVID needs, expand access to child care and early learning, improve quality and mitigate COVID-related developmental delays," the description in the ordinance says.

The effort to bolster child care programs in Louisville comes after the city lost 45% of its child care capacity from 2013 to 2020 and as centers throughout Kentucky struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic.

Louisville child care: COVID drastically reduced a center's enrollment, but not its spirit

In March, Metro Council passed an ordinance introduced by Metro Councilwoman Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-8th, that aims to ease zoning restrictions and allow more child care centers to open.

Armstrong said Tuesday that Louisville will have invested more than $10 million in child care through ARP funding if the latest round passes, calling it "one of the most significant investments our city has ever made in our city's youngest learners."

The funds could help with small loans or grants for operators of centers or home-based care programs, as well as improvements to playgrounds and outdoor learning spaces and increased access to developmental screens resources for "COVID-related delays in our youngest children," Armstrong explained.

She also noted $1 million is included in the new round of funding to help develop a lead registry for rental properties built in or before 1978 and have a "Lead Free Louisville public awareness strategy."

"We know investing in our children is the best investment we can make for the future health of our community," Armstrong added. "...The money in this ordinance could be a gamechanger for so many things."

Youth development initiatives

Louisville's Office of Youth Development would get $8.5 million to create a three-year "comprehensive and accessible Youth Development System" for kids to "access a variety of services and programs and improve public safety."

The money for Louisville's younger residents would come after a record number of children were murdered in the city in 2021 and following efforts to help "disconnected youth" who without a job and not in school.

Specifically, Arthur said residents from the ages of 10 to 24 will benefit from expanded youth programs throughout the city.

The Bob Baffert story: Famed Triple Crown wins and a long history of failed drug tests

"We'll have a designated Louisville Metro employee who is working on local but also state and federal youth services, bringing them back to the city," Arthur continued.

A youth external agency fund will also allow local groups to apply for more funding, and Arthur said the ARP money will bring back "Neighborhood Youth Boards" for all 26 Metro Council districts, with each one featuring 15 young residents who are paid to help council members "make decisions about your government."

"We always talk about how youth are the future. They are the right now," Arthur said. "We just need to make sure we do what we can to invest in them, and I feel like this ordinance is finally putting our ARP money where our mouth is."

Cleaning up Rhodia brownfield site

$10 million would help remediate the Rhodia brownfield site in Park Hill at 1495 S. 11th Street, which once housed manufacturing firms that made products like lacquers, varnishes and coatings until the most recently operating plant closed in 1994.

The buildings at the 16.8-acre site south of Hill Street and near railroad tracks have been demolished, and the new funding would go for "brownfield remediation necessary for a project to proceed."

City documents say a redevelopment project could include "affordable housing, mixed-use, community space, and green space," and it would benefit residents in the predominantly Black and lower-income neighborhoods of Park Hill and Algonquin.

Fischer did not indicate Tuesday that any new development or company has been picked yet to take over the land.

"We're optimistic that it can be put to good use for the city," the mayor said.

Park and pools improvements

A new park at 13th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard is in store, Arthur said, adding that residents will select its name.

Other improvements would include $6 million for preserving and expanding the Baxter Community Center on Cedar Court between 11th and 12th streets and $2.5 million for restoring the Chickasaw Park pond, which city documents note is "the only flatwater recreational amenity in west Louisville."

Tennis courts in Iroquois Park ($500,000) and Berrytown Park ($200,000) would also receive renovations.

The ordinance has $500,000 to go with $1.3 million from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy to improve the historic Elliott Park via a master plan, and $5 million would help renovate the Algonquin and Norton pools.

Simmons College housing

Simmons College of Kentucky, the city's HBCU, would land $7 million in ARP funds, to be matched with contributions from other sources.

Officials said the funds would go toward workforce development training, and the "foundational piece" of the project, costing $13.3 million, would go toward building housing on Simmons' campus, which sits a few blocks south of downtown.

COVID needs and broadband

Finally, the ordinance has more than $12.5 million to help with ongoing "COVID essentials" for the next fiscal year, and $2 million would implement an electronic health records system that has telehealth capacity.

Louisville would also use $2 million to improve broadband internet access and services in the city.

The ordinance has $5 million to help with "Louisville Metro's significant compliance and reporting responsibilities over the five year life of the grant, which Metro Council believes should be paid with ARP funds," according to its project description.

And $2.5 million will support "comprehensive reentry employment services" for residents who were previously incarcerated and negatively impacted by the pandemic, per the proposal.

Where has Louisville already invested its ARP funds?

Following a public engagement process, the first slice of Louisville's $388 million in ARP funding was approved last summer and went toward "immediate and urgent" needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, from personal protective equipment for child care programs to vaccination efforts as well as food distribution staffing, suicide prevention efforts and utility payment assistance.

The mayor and Metro Council members have subsequently directed additional portions of the city's ARP money toward priorities like affordable housing, premium pay for public employees and violence prevention programs.

The Hope Village: How to support Louisville's outdoor space for homeless residents as it opens

In the winter, Louisville asked groups to submit proposals for using remaining ARP dollars in areas like child care, environmental justice and workforce development.

Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law last year, with the $1.9 trillion package intended to help respond to the public health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. It includes roughly $362 billion in funds for state and local governments.

This week is a busy one for Metro Council, as Fischer is unveiling his budget proposal for the next fiscal year on Thursday.

Reach Billy Kobin at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville American Rescue Plan Act funding: Fourth round announced