LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There’s more optimism that downtown Louisville is poised to make a comeback. 

Thursday we learned about UofL Health’s $144 million expansion project.

That follows Churchill Downs announcing its plans to spend $80 million on a gaming and entertainment venue downtown.

There are positive signs that restaurants are weathering the economic storm caused by the pandemic.

George Timmering, owner of Bearno’s Pizza in downtown Louisville, was challenged like many businesses, forced to survive. 

“The pandemic was really challenging. You know there were some people downtown working, so that kind of kept us going,” explains Timmering.

But fast forward two years later, Timmering says his business has overcome this pandemic.

“The big thing about downtown Louisville now is the tourism is doing great. The downtown businesses is very good at night. The events are back at the KFC YUM Center,” adds Timmering.

With UofL Health’s massive expansion announcement this week to invest millions of dollars in major upgrades to its downtown hospital, and Churchill Downs plans to open a new historical racing venue to downtown, Timmering is optimistic about what the developments could mean for his business.

“Hearing that construction is going to be happening at UofL Health is exciting because a lot of our business has been based on construction workers,” said Timmering.

Another statistic pointing to better days ahead is more businesses like Humana are bringing their workforces out of their homes and back to offices downtown.

“The issue or the thing that’s inconsistent is lunches and that used to kind of be our bread and butter and we used to have our bills paid after lunchtime most of the time because we’d have such busy lunches. So, we’re excited about Humana coming back to work,” said Timmering.

The 56-year-old expects the projects to help spark a wave of business in the area.

“The more foot traffic you have, the better you can staff your restaurant and you can offer more hours consistent hours and be prepared,” explains Timmering.

Having more foot traffic means serving more customers.

“Having more business is a great problem, making sure we have the employees that do a great job in taking care of our customers that will be a challenge, but that’s a good problem to have,” adds Timmering.

Construction of UofL Health’s project upgrade is expected to be completed in 2024.

Churchill Downs of Derby City Gaming Downtown is slated to be completed in 2023.