Last year, Champions Blue LLC, the LLC created for UK Athletics, announced the plan to build an entertainment district near Kroger Field to create a new revenue stream.
Earlier this week, the school made the next step before the district’s construction, choosing one of four proposals.
On Tuesday, Kevin Locke, UK’s Associate Vice President of planning, design, and construction, informed the Champions Blue Board of Governors that the school is moving forward with the “Cooper Connector” plan. This proposal
is based on similar districts created near arenas for Ohio State, Arizona State, the Green Bay Packers, and the Atlanta Braves.
As a result of this plan, Bluegrass Community and Technical College will vacate the school’s original home on Cooper Drive by the end of 2026, a spokesperson told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Despite BCTC still holding classes, Kentucky originally took control over the property with an agreement in 2008, after BCTC built a new campus at the former site of Eastern State Hospital, which moved to land owned by UK on the Coldstream Research campus.
The “Cooper Connector” plan includes retail and a hotel conference center, but dining will serve as the anchor, as Locke explained to the board on Tuesday.
With the plan, there are still some final decisions to be made over the coming weeks, including the precise location for the hotel conference center.
Perhaps the biggest decision will be whether to include a multi-use facility that would include a new basketball practice facility in the Kroger Field entertainment district or as part of a district to be built near Historic Memorial Coliseum that will include retail, housing, and parking. A conversation study is needed and is tentatively set to be completed this summer.
