You’ll notice it on your right, going north on Limestone. It’s butter-yellow, with a cast concrete facade that Dr. Zac Leonard, a historic preservationist with Blue Grass Trust, identifies as Rundbogenstil, a German revival architectural style.
"So, you have, aside from the rounded arches, medieval elements," explained Leonard. "You have grotesque sculptures."
Leonard nominated the building - and the adjoining buildings in the lot behind it - to the National Register of Historic Places. The portion facing Limestone is actually the newest addition to the complex, built in 1922 for Mr. John F. Luigart, son of Joseph Luigart, a German immigrant who moved to Kentucky in 1869. The earliest portion of the complex was built in the 1850s as a hemp factory.
Joseph Luigart, having previously worked in breweries across the midwest, used the hemp factory building as a malt house, benefiting from proximity to the Belt Line railway and directly contributing to economic growth in North Lexington.
"The malting operation wound up in the early 20th century," said Leonard. "Thereafter, it served as various forms of storage. it was a warehouse, it was a blacksmith shop. But, for a period from the late 1930s into the 1940s, it was the Dixieland Gardens dance hall, which predominantly attracted quite prominent Black musicians, and was also an integrated venue."
Today, the complex houses the LEX Center for Creative ReUse, an events space, and multiple commercial and apartment units.
The Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board unanimously approved the Luigart Malt House Complex for inclusion on the National Register. Now, the nomination heads to the National Park Service for its final approval.