LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After sitting vacant and untouched for decades, city officials, like 12th district councilmember Kathy Plomin, want to turn the old Cadentown Rosenwald School into more of a "sense of place."
"It'll become a kind of history center about the hamlets. We have to have artifacts and pictures and some personal stories that we'll have on tape that will be shown here. It can be a gathering place for folks from different churches," said Plomin.
Plomin says the city of Lexington is fundraising to pay for what they're calling a "Sense of Place" initiative to recognize and preserve historic Black hamlets like Cadentown.
Chair of the steering committee, Tiffany Brown, says it's about restoration and equity.
"A lot of what I do is to bring in those pieces that are missing, that are outliers, that are maybe relegated to the margins, to bring, to uplift those missions and those communities," said the city's equity and implementation officer.
More than 20 historic hamlets have been identified in Fayette County. The steering commission will be responsible for educating the public and executing the project plans.
In 1990, the Cadentown community came together and organized the preservation of the Cadentown Rosenwald School.
Other locations have been developed over.
Brown believes once complete, the project can show it's never too late to start.
"For years, decades, there's been a lack of investment in things that matter to our community, so now is a perfect time to get on board," said Brown.
While most are within the urban service boundary (city limits), outside of Plomin's district, she says she's fueled by her passion to uplift rural communities.
Plomin says they are nearing the $200,000 mark of their $500,000 goal for the project. They're labeling it a "grassroots" approach.
$105,000 from the council offices of councilmembers Kathy Plomin, Chuck Ellinger, Dave Sevigny, Preston Worley, Whitney Baxter, and James Brown. An additional $25,000 has been donated from corporate sponsor, Columbia Gas of Kentucky.
The restoration would include the cemetery of unmarked graves, spaces for community use, and a permanent home to share the history of Lexington's hamlets.
Cadentown is the same community the city's Board of Architectural Review (BOAR) approved developer plans for a one-story commercial building.
Residents were not pleased and felt their history was being erased.
Daniels says that did not spark this initiative.
"The committee has been able to have some community engagement forums in Cadentown and really listening to what it is that they want to happen here where they grew up and really making sure that the history is protected here," said Daniels.
She added she believes the planning department has taken proactive approaches in recognizing some of the old racial covenants and looking for equity-based approaches to the comprehensive plan.
