Wake Up Lexington Event was Packed!

Gwen and I went downtown this morning to attend the Wake Up Lexington event. We arrived to find the theater packed! The demographics were mixed, to say the least: college students, young parents with their children, older people, and in-between (NOT old, damn it!) history buffs like ourselves.

From Barefoot and Progressive:

We filled EVERY seat of the 350 seat theater.

Standing room only in the back.

With a full lobby of people that couldn't get in.

Amazing.

Sadly, we were among the people who couldn't get in to see the presentation. We did sign the big letter in the lobby, though, and enjoyed studying the photographs of buildings and their histories. Some of them may appear in Gwen's second novel.

Kudos also to The Dame folks, who displayed several photographs of their establishment near the exit of the building. I am sorry to hear that the venue may have been sold out from under the people who actually run it.

I do hope that, at some point, we will have the opportunity to see the documentary. The theater and lobby were so crowded that we couldn't get close enough to hear, much less see, much of value. I won't complain too loudly, though, since this was just proof of the event's success!

More heartening news:

Towards the end of the event, a question was asked to Vice-Mayor Jim Gray, who gave a VERY good speech about how we should be able to come to a compromise that improves Lexington by incorporating the rich history and community that we already have here. It was "is this already a done deal?" After some delicate wording, he gave an emphatic "NO", to great applause.

I hope this interest will lead to a good turnout for the Courthouse Area Design Overlay Board Hearing. It will take place at 2 PM on Wednesday in the Urban County Council Chambers. I am afraid I will be working, as will many other sympathizers of the cause.