LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Smoketown Laundromat in the historic Smoketown neighborhood of Louisville opened its doors over the weekend, offering residents free laundry service thanks to a partnership with GE Appliances.

Now, it’s back to business where customers have to pay, but the laundromat’s purpose is to do more than just offer a place for people to wash and dry their clothes. It is also set up to be a gathering place for the community.

David Steele was born and raised in Louisville’s historic Smoketown neighborhood, which is the only post-civil war neighborhood settled mainly by African Americans that remains in Louisville.

“Heritage-wise there used to be a social club right across the street next to this white house,” Steele pointed out, while standing outside of his new business, Smoketown Laundromat, on South Hancock Street. 

His business is in a building he used to frequent a lot as a kid because it’s where his barbershop was, as well as a convenience store to buy snacks after getting his hair cut. 

“There was a free public library all the way down,” Steele also pointed out. “They just kinda like folded everything in regards to resources and stuff here.”

Steele said Smoketown thrived when he was a kid, but now the neighborhood needs help. The 43-year-old sees his new business as a way to get his neighborhood back to the way he remembers it.

Smoketown Laundromat is one project that’s part of a larger public and private partnership between YouthBuild Louisville and other stakeholders, which is transforming a vacant building into a location that helps and services its surrounding community.

Steele was approached by YouthBuild Louisville to pursue ownership of Smoketown Laundromat. YouthBuild Louisville is a nonprofit that provides education, job training, and leadership programs for low-income young adults 16 to 24 years old. Steele has served as a mentor for the organization. 

“We own the building, and we’ll always own the building. We own the machines, and we will always own the machines. As we go along, he will buy his ownership of the business itself,” President and CEO of YouthBuild Louisville Lynn Rippy explained.

Besides washing and drying clothes, Steele and YouthBuild also set the laundromat up to be a gathering space. For example, when one walks into the space, they will probably notice a shelf full of books before they notice the washers and dryers. 

“We want to emphasize that reading piece, you know, elevate their mindsets more than just your social media, TikTok, and all of those avenues that kids are in now. [It’s] still cool to read books,” Steele exclaimed.

Computers will also be set up so people can check email, pay bills or apply to jobs while waiting on their laundry, Steele said. The laundromat also has free Wi-Fi.

Besides the laundromat, YouthBuild Louisville already has the designs for a youth community center that will also be in the same building. Rippey said construction on the community center will start this year, and it’s expected to be completed by 2023.

“There really isn’t space for young people. The teenagers in this neighborhood need a place in this neighborhood to go. They need to be supervised. They need to be challenged, and so we are working to make sure that we have space here for them,” Rippy explained.

In addition, a minority-owned small business incubator to help entrepreneurs in Smoketown is also planned to be set up in the building, too.

Steele hopes this investment sparks more interest by investors in Smoketown.

“Like I said, it’s a great neighborhood. It just needs people to come down and invest in it,” Steele said.

Smoketown Laundromat is at 906 South Hancock Street in Louisville, and it’s open daily from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., except for holidays.