Park Plaza Apartments (Lexington, Kentucky) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Park Plaza |
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Park Plaza is at far right
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| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Residential, retail |
| Location | 120 East Main St. Lexington, Kentucky 40507 |
| Coordinates | 38°02′44″N 84°29′50″W / 38.0455°N 84.4971°W |
| Opening | 1987 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 213-foot (65 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 22 |
Park Plaza Apartments is a tall building in Lexington, Kentucky. It has 21 floors and 202 apartments. It's located right in the middle of downtown Lexington, next to Phoenix Park.
The building also has a big parking garage with seven floors and space for 425 cars. The apartments start on the eighth floor. Park Plaza is even connected to the Lexington Public Library, which is super handy! Inside the apartment building, there's a gym on the eighth floor and a special room called the Phoenix Room on the first floor for parties or events.
Building Park Plaza
The idea for Park Plaza started with a developer named Wallace Wilkinson. He first wanted to build a much bigger project called the "World Coal Center." But that plan was too expensive and didn't happen.
So, Wilkinson came up with a smaller idea: an apartment building with 24 floors and 250 apartments. He also planned for the parking garage underneath. To help pay for it, the state of Kentucky gave $7.5 million. This money was for the whole area, including what is now Phoenix Park, the apartment building, a state-owned parking garage, and a new public library.
Construction Begins
Building a big skyscraper costs a lot! As the project went on, the cost of materials and other things went up. In 1985, Mr. Wilkinson asked for a bit more money, about $750,000, to finish the project.
On July 9, 1987, something special happened. About 35 people gathered in Central Park (now Phoenix Park) for a "topping out" ceremony. This is a tradition where the very last and highest steel beam is placed on top of a new building. It means the building has reached its full height!
Wallace Wilkinson, who later became the governor of Kentucky, was there. The very top beam even has his name on it, along with the name of Scotty Baesler, who was the mayor of Lexington at the time. When this ceremony happened, Park Plaza was already 70 percent finished.
Opening Day
Park Plaza was finally completed in the fall of 1987. The whole building cost about $20 million to build. People could start looking at model apartments on September 1st, and the first residents moved in during the second week of November.
Park Plaza was important because it was the first big apartment building built in downtown Lexington since the early 1970s. Today, the building is owned by a company called Anderson Communities.
