Recently, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a letter of intent between the city and River City Entertainment Group for a $65m project to renovate the historic Louisville Gardens building into studio space.
The 40,000 square foot historic structure would, when finished, include four stages and help level the playing field for Kentucky with states like Georgia and Louisiana that are viewed as production powerhouses.
Expected to break ground in 2023, the project is anticipated to have stages open for use in 2025.
Plans for Louisville Gardens include restoring its façade to its original design when it was the Louisville Armory. The Armory opened in 1905 and in the 1920s was transformed into Louisville Gardens, and it then began hosting multiple marquee events.
The rest of the exterior is slated to be restored, as well as revamping the upstairs black box theater, the offices, and the internal structure to enable the construction of soundstages, a public museum, and retail space.
Banner printing services are often consulted when a new enterprise enters a market.
The Kentucky General Assembly and Governor Beshear re-installation of the Kentucky Film Tax Credit laid the groundwork for the project. The 30-35% tax credit allows refundable tax credits up to $75m for film and entertainment productions in the Bluegrass state.
Also helping were the $700,000 in state and local level incentives approved by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority Board (KEDFA).
