email: roadarch@outlook.com

Kentucky Mid-Century Modern Buildings

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WAVE Park
Louisville, KY
This downtown structure in WAVE Park has the smallest parabolic roof I have ever seen. It is frequently used as a backdrop for WAVE-TV weather reports. It looks like a bus shelter but I'm told that it never was. I'd love to know when it was built and what its original purpose was. [map]

Ken-Bowl Lanes
Louisville, KY
I believe the Ken-Bowl Lanes opened in 1961. [map]

Louisville Fire Academy
Louisville, KY
Taylor Made Barber Shop [gone]
Paducah, KY
The Louisville Fire Academy's Fire Environment Building is more commonly called "the Tower". It is used for training and testing purposes. I have not been able to determine the age of this building. The design has both 1940s and 1970s elements but one source says it was built in 1987. [map]

The Taylor Made Barber Shop was housed in a structure like this one in Millers Creek, NC. I believe this building was installed here in the 1970s. This photo is from 2010. The building was still there in 2012 but, by 2018, it was gone.

Eastland Bowling Lanes
Lexington, KY
The Eastland Bowling Lanes was designed by Johnson Romanowitz Architects, now known as JRA Architects. It was built around 1960. The firm also designed the Southland Bowling Lanes in Lexington around the same time. [map]

Gabe's Tower Inn [gone]
Owensboro, KY
Gabe's Tower Inn was built in 1963. The 13-story building was a big deal at the time for Owensboro. Originally, the building's panels were pastel colors. In the 1980s, the building housed a Best Western and, in the 1990s, it was known as the Tower Motor Inn. A few other names later, and the hotel closed for good in 2001. It was demolished in 2020.

A statue of the hotel's owner, Gabe Fiorella, once stood in front of Gabe's Restaurant which opened in 1959. It has been moved to a mini storage business. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

I-64 Rest Area
Winchester, KY
This I-64 Rest Area was designed in 1962 and built in 1964. There were four rest areas built with this design. The only other survivor is about 15 miles east of this one. Both buildings are threatened with demolition. They were still there in 2018. [map]

More Kentucky:
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (Covington)
dome home (Florence)
Breathitt County Courthouse (Jackson) [map]
Coca-Cola bottling plant (Lexington)
Gardenside Plaza Bus Shelter (Lexington) [map]
Paul Miller Ford (Lexington)
Hogan's Fountain Pavilion (Louisville) [gone]
Triaero House (Louisville) [map]
John Scruggs House (Nicholasville)
Mini-Mo Motel (Paducah)