The Limerick neighborhood is rich in history and cultural diversity. The neighborhood has historical significance for Louisville’s Irish, Jewish and African-American communities. In the late 1800s many Irish-Americans settled the area near the newly opened Louisville and Nashville (L&N) freight yard. The Central Colored School, the first publicly funded African-American school in the commonwealth of Kentucky (1873), is located just across the street from Ben Washer Park is owned by Louisville’s HBCU Simmons College of Kentucky, which flanks the park from both east and west. For a period, African Americans referred to the neighborhood as “Limbrick.”  Limerick is a “crossroads” community connecting West Louisville, Old Louisville and the Central Business District. The area is ethnically diverse and has one of the highest concentrations of senior housing in the city.  The growth of Simmons College and Spalding University will add to the vibrancy of the area for years to come. The residents, businesses and non-profits in the neighborhood make Limerick a prime location for growth.

WELL Building

Designed to capture the imagination and be a physical manifestation of creative thinking, Our Place has been renovated using advanced green building techniques.  Under the leadership of sustainable designer/builder Sy Safi and architect Clive Pohl, the house is revitalized as a model high performance, healthy building featuring a solar pavilion.  The team has chosen the WELL Building Standard as our goal. Our Place at Ben Washer Park will be one of the early buildings in Kentucky to achieve WELL certification. WELL Building puts people at the center of design and has a rigorous set of features relating to air, water, light, nourishment, fitness, comfort and mind that impacts every area of Our Place, including the Café menu. Our Place is curated as an educational space allowing people to experience and interact with the WELL Building features and green design.