LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Building Our Blocks (B.O.B.) is an initiative to transform a neighborhood in one day. The initiative will start with a neighborhood located right next to Churchill Downs — Lucky Horseshoe. On Tuesday, residents gathered for the first B.O.B. planning meeting.

What You Need To Know

  • The Building Our Blocks (B.O.B.) initiative looks to transform the Lucky Horseshoe neighborhood around Churchill Downs 

  • This initiative is going to be community-led and Louisville Metro government-supported. It will also involve nonprofit partners

  • In one day projects such as tree plantings, home repair, street safety improvements, beautification and more will be done in Lucky Horseshoe neighborhood

  • After transforming the Lucky Horseshoe Neighborhood, the hope is to continue the B.O.B. initiative into the entire 15th District

Patrick Erdley has lived in the Lucky Horseshoe Neighborhood for eight years. He says he is happy there is light being shed on their community and that residents are taking part in the conversation.

“It’s nice to have an opportunity to be able to express ourselves and to remind, especially our community leaders and our representatives, that, like these are things we face every day and, you know, we want things to be better. We want we all want to live nice lives and live in nice places,” said Erdley.

This initiative is going to be community-led and Louisville Metro government-supported. It will also include nonprofit partners. District 15 Councilwoman Jennifer Chappell (D) says she hopes to address the residents’ concerns with the project.

“We are looking at everything from installing smoke detectors, planting trees, installing rain barrels, doing soil testing, putting in speed humps and art installations and new signs and trash cans and all sorts of things,” said Chappell.

The main purpose of the B.O.B. initiative is to be proactive in solving issues the community members face daily while also instilling community pride.

“We really want to see how we can make that impact on people that are here and make them feel important, especially because there have been countless homes that have been lost to the Churchill Downs expansion. And so how do we keep the community intact as it’s shrunk? So we’re really looking forward to making sure that people feel invested in,” said Chappell.

Another neighborhood resident, Erin Smith, says they felt like their thoughts, feelings, and ideas were heard at the community meeting.

“I love knowing my neighbors. I love seeing kids play. I want them to have a safe place to play. I want them to have well-lit streets when they’re walking to and from the school bus or the bus stop, wherever that is. I want people to feel safe. I don’t want trash and other things to be in the way like everyone else. We want community. We want our community to be beautiful and want to be loved, and we want to take care of it and foster that,” said Smith.

Both Smith and Erdley agree not all the neighborhood’s problems will be fixed in one day, but this is a step in the right direction to address those issues and collectively improve the neighborhood.

“I think this is going to serve a lot of different purposes. It’s going to give this neighborhood some visibility. It’s going to give us some practical goals to try to reach. It’s going to make it look a little bit better. And if anything, it’s going to introduce neighbors to other neighbors,” said Erdley.

After transforming the Lucky Horseshoe Neighborhood, the hope is to continue the B.O.B initiative into the entire 15th District. There will be another Building Our Blocks initiative meeting on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

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