Should you be downtown around lunchtime Monday, there might be a delightful surprise waiting for you along South Fourth Street between Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Broadway. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tax Day (a.k.a., the Ides of April or April 15), the South Fourth District – SOFO for short – will hold its grand opening celebration among the shops located along the street between the Brown and Seelbach hotels. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will occur at around 11:45 a.m. with Mayor Greg Fischer doing the honors, while the street will be blocked off between Muhammad Ali and Chestnut, where the majority of the boutiques that currently make up SOFO are located.
Visitors, workers and locals alike can expect music from King Sonic, a radio remote with Lite 106.9 personality Vicki Rogers from noon until 2 p.m., food specials, discounts, and raffles from each boutique – Art Eatables, Les Filles Louisville, Block Party Handmade Boutique, Regalo, The Leading Man and Celebrations; Craft(s) and Gifthorse will open in this summer – in SOFO. The concept is a project of the Louisville Downtown Development Corporation, designed to revitalize the corridor south of the more tourist-oriented Fourth Street Live by bringing together local retailers into the 500 and 600 blocks of Fourth Street to replace the empty storefronts and wig shops that currently represent the area. As such, there will most likely be scaffolding and some construction vehicles out and about, a reflection of the work being accomplished in SOFO's gentrification efforts; said vehicles probably won't be operational during the hours of the party, however.
For more information and updates, you may follow the LDDC's own SOFO Facebook page. You may also visit the SOFO website at www.sofolouisville.com, or contact Lisa Cofer at lisa@extraordinaryeventsofky.com or 502-254-1984. The event is free and open to all.
Photos: Facebook/SOFO Louisville.
