Know Your Kentucky

KY Fried History: The World’s (Lexington’s) Tallest Building

By Andrew Henderson
The Fourth of July fireworks display shot off of the 31-story, 410-foot Lexington Financial Center seen from The Woodlands Wednesday in Lexington.
The Fourth of July fireworks display shot off of the 31-story, 410-foot Lexington Financial Center seen from The Woodlands Wednesday in Lexington. Alex Slitz aslitz@herald-leader.com

This is the April 21, 2025, edition of Kentucky Fried History, the commonwealth’s premier history-focused newsletter that takes you through the ink-stained pages of the Lexington Herald-Leader. You can get this content for free every Monday in your email inbox by signing up here.

The Webb Cos. announced yesterday that it would resurrect two vacant downtown lots with a “festival marketplace” of shops and food kiosks, and an office tower that would be the city’s tallest building. - Jacqueline Duke, Lexington Herald-Leader, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 1984.

Whether you call it “Fifth Third,” “The World’s Tallest Building” or the “Big Blue Building,” there’s almost a 100% chance you’ve noticed this 31-story building when casting your gaze toward downtown Lexington. If you’ve managed to miss it, I would strongly encourage you to book an appointment with an optometrist.

While the Lexington Financial Center is the undisputed tallest building in Lexington, it is, sadly, only the sixth-or perhaps fifth-tallest building in the commonwealth. There’s a bit of an asterisk there because of some slight contention as to whether or not the Omni Louisville Hotel is taller.

Indisputably, the tallest four buildings in Kentucky go in this order from descending height:

  • 400 West Market, Louisville - 167 meters
  • PNC Tower, Louisville - 156 meters
  • 500 West Jefferson (PNC Plaza), Louisville - 128 meters
  • Humana Building, Louisville - 127 meters

Now, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Omni Louisville Hotel is 112.8 meters tall and the Lexington Financial Center is 125 meters tall. So, where does the dispute arise from?

Well, some of it comes from a couple of construction services saying the Omni is actually the third-tallest building in Louisville, and if that were true, it’d throw off all the calculations for the Louisville skyline. Louisville Business Journal places Omni hotel’s height at 360 feet (almost 110 meters) which puts it close to the number provided by the tall buildings council, so we’re going forward with 360(ish) feet as the number.

Additionally, in 2018, The Lane Report listed Lexington Financial Center as being 410 feet tall, which is consistent with all other measurements; at the time, the Omni Hotel was not fully finished. But given the consistency of measurements for the financial center, I am going to crown our Big Blue Building as the (currently) undisputed fifth-tallest building in Kentucky (subject to change if new information is made available).

Danny Rhymer, left and Michael Stanford, right, watch Junior Jones attach a piece of roofing onto the Lexington Financial Center June 19, 1986. The men worked for W.F Martin Company and were installing sheet metal roofing on the nearly complete building in downtown Lexington. At the center of the photo is what is now Phoenix Park and the site of the Lexington Public Library building. The Lexington Financial Center, know as “Fifth Third” or the “Big Blue Building”, is a 410 foot 31 floor high-rise and was completed in 1987. It’s the tallest building in Kentucky outside Louisville. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Danny Rhymer, left and Michael Stanford, right, watch Junior Jones attach a piece of roofing onto the Lexington Financial Center June 19, 1986. The men worked for W.F Martin Company and were installing sheet metal roofing on the nearly complete building in downtown Lexington. At the center of the photo is what is now Phoenix Park and the site of the Lexington Public Library building. The Lexington Financial Center, know as “Fifth Third” or the “Big Blue Building”, is a 410 foot 31 floor high-rise and was completed in 1987. It’s the tallest building in Kentucky outside Louisville. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff Ron Garrison Herald-Leader

Apologies for getting so fixated on whether or not the financial center was the fifth- or sixth-tallest building in the state. I didn’t think the height of a building would become quite so contentious.

Anyway, Webb Companies should be a familiar name to those in Central Kentucky, as it’s the area’s largest and oldest commercial real estate firm behind many of Lexington’s present-day downtown buildings.

As mentioned above, the company was also developing the “festival marketplace” in addition to the originally planned 26-story office tower.

Festival Market opened in 1986 to much acclaim and a balloon launch to boot. By 1991, nearly half of the spaces in the building were vacant, and in 1999, the building sold at auction and was rebranded as Triangle Center. The building was sold again in 2022, and there are plans for yet another re-brand.

In the middle of this image of downtown Lexington from Oct. 4, 1982, you can see the Lexington rainbow mural on the Phillip Gall & Son sporting goods building at 230 West Main St. It was torn down one year later for a retail and office complex called the Lexington Galleria, to be developed by the Webb Companies. This and the adjacent World Coal Center never happened. Instead the Lexington Financial Center (commonly known as the Big Blue Building) was developed. The rainbow mural shown here is now the location of its parking garage. To the right, near the edge of the image is early construction of the Lexington Public Library’s Central Library branch, Phoenix Park and the 21-story Park Plaza apartments.
In the middle of this image of downtown Lexington from Oct. 4, 1982, you can see the Lexington rainbow mural on the Phillip Gall & Son sporting goods building at 230 West Main St. It was torn down one year later for a retail and office complex called the Lexington Galleria, to be developed by the Webb Companies. This and the adjacent World Coal Center never happened. Instead the Lexington Financial Center (commonly known as the Big Blue Building) was developed. The rainbow mural shown here is now the location of its parking garage. To the right, near the edge of the image is early construction of the Lexington Public Library’s Central Library branch, Phoenix Park and the 21-story Park Plaza apartments. John Wyatt Herald-Leader file photo

At the time, developers planned to raise $32 million in private funding for the Lexington Financial Center. Dudley Webb told the Herald-Leader that developers hoped to attract a bank as the main tenant (which they did). The building would exceed the height of Lexington’s then-tallest building, Kincaid Towers.

Gov. Martha Layne Collins recommitted $7.5 million in state money toward the project to buy a city-owned parking lot at West Main and Upper streets, and to build a six-story garage primarily serving as parking for the festival marketplace.

(An editor informs me I should tell you I’m about to take you down a rabbit hole, but bear with me. It’ll be fun.)

The state had previously approved $15 million in bonds for the Galleria and World Coal Center. The Galleria was a Webb project that ultimately fell through after developers failed to attract a major department store to downtown Lexington. (“We bit off more than we could chew,” Donald Webb said at the time.) That’s not to be confused with the Louisville Galleria, which was developed and opened around this same time.

World Coal Center and Lexington Galleria was a joint development project between Webb Cos. and Wilkinson Enterprises and was awarded the original $15 million from Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. Interestingly enough, Wilkinson Enterprises was headed by developer Wallace Wilkinson, who served as Kentucky governor from 1987 to 1991.

The World Coal Center was, in a few words, not well received locally. The development involved razing the vacant Phoenix Hotel downtown to build a whooping 50-story building, which would’ve made it the tallest building in the state at that time had it proceeded with construction in the early 1980s.

Wilkinson’s plan for the building was to house “energy-related firms, particularly those dealing with coal.”

“Our governor has been quoted as saying he wants to make Kentucky the coal capital of the world. I would like to see that specifically centered in Lexington. And I believe it can.” - Wallace Wilkinson in the Lexington Leader, Feb. 23, 1981.

Fast forward a few decades, and now it’s doubtful that even executive orders from President Donald Trump can revive the coal industry, much less in Kentucky specifically.

The Lexington rainbow logo was about all that remained of the former Philip Gall & Son sporting goods building at 230 West Main St. in downtown Lexington, as workmen took down the last wall on October 26, 1983. The space was being cleared for a downtown retail and office complex called the Lexington Galleria, to be developed by the Webb Companies. This and the adjacent World Coal Center never happened. Instead the Lexington Financial Center (commonly known as the Big Blue Building) was developed. The site shown here is now the location of its parking garage. Student of history? Fan of all things Lexington and Kentucky? Our blog, KYphotoarchive.com, is updated daily showcasing the Herald-Leader’s vast collection of photographs dating back nearly a century.
The Lexington rainbow logo was about all that remained of the former Philip Gall & Son sporting goods building at 230 West Main St. in downtown Lexington, as workmen took down the last wall on October 26, 1983. The space was being cleared for a downtown retail and office complex called the Lexington Galleria, to be developed by the Webb Companies. This and the adjacent World Coal Center never happened. Instead the Lexington Financial Center (commonly known as the Big Blue Building) was developed. The site shown here is now the location of its parking garage. Student of history? Fan of all things Lexington and Kentucky? Our blog, KYphotoarchive.com, is updated daily showcasing the Herald-Leader’s vast collection of photographs dating back nearly a century. Ron Garrison Staff file photo

Anyway, to put a bow on the World Coal Center, the project faced a continual series of setbacks and obstacles. What was once pitched as a 50-story development was downgraded to 25 stories after a couple of years. There was a lot of commotion about tax-exempt bonds and how much the development could qualify for, and then, eventually, the project never materialized.

Today, the site is home to Phoenix Park, proving that the hotel did, in fact, in name at least, rise from the ashes. The site of the demolished Phoenix Hotel would remain a rubble-filled hole for several years, and it would go on to be called the “World Coal Hole.” The failed project drew numerous comparisons to the CentrePointe development, another project that left a gaping hole in downtown Lexington.

To CentrePointe’s credit, that project actually materialized.

Long before the CentrePointe development another downtown block sat undeveloped and was known as the World Coal Hole by locals. Seen here in July 1983, this was the block where the Phoenix Hotel once stood. The Phoenix was demolished in 1981 and 1982 by Wallace Wilkinson, who planned to use the site to build the World Coal Center skyscraper. It was never built, and the site eventually became the Park Plaza Apartments, the downtown Public Library and Phoenix Park.
Long before the CentrePointe development another downtown block sat undeveloped and was known as the World Coal Hole by locals. Seen here in July 1983, this was the block where the Phoenix Hotel once stood. The Phoenix was demolished in 1981 and 1982 by Wallace Wilkinson, who planned to use the site to build the World Coal Center skyscraper. It was never built, and the site eventually became the Park Plaza Apartments, the downtown Public Library and Phoenix Park. David Cooper Herald-Leader

At the start of this newsletter, I said I would be talking about the Lexington Financial Center. Instead, I’ve gone on a few tangents about other projects, coal holes and the height of the “World’s Tallest Building.”

For that, I apologize slightly, but sometimes when spelunking in the mines of history, you become distracted and have to follow your heart.

The financial center opened in October 1986 (and was fully completed in 1987) and housed the Bank of Lexington and Trust Co., Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects, Webb Cos. and other firms. Some of the present-day tenants include Kentucky Employer’s Mutual Insurance and Frost Brown Todd Law Group.

Three other developments, also Webb projects, that were “substantially completed” in 1986 included the aforementioned Festival Market, Lexington Green and Tates Creek Centre.

Aside from gracing the Lexington skyline, people have also rappelled down the side of this Big Blue Building. In 2013, former Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen (and others) rappelled down all 410 feet of the financial center for the Brave the Blue II challenge, which raised money for the Blue Grass Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

I’ll close us out here with some photos of this big ol’ blue beauty. Join me back here next week so we can talk about the Kentucky Derby. See you next time.

Wini Yunker, 79, rappelled down the Lexington Financial Center on Wednesday.
Wini Yunker, 79, rappelled down the Lexington Financial Center on Wednesday. Lexington Herald-Leader
The view from the 31st floor looking down the side of the Lexington Financial Center where Bill Alley, 74, will be the oldest participant in the Brave the Blue event with people rappellling down the building, photographed on Thursday October 17, 2012 in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
The view from the 31st floor looking down the side of the Lexington Financial Center where Bill Alley, 74, will be the oldest participant in the Brave the Blue event with people rappellling down the building, photographed on Thursday October 17, 2012 in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff Herald-Leader
The Lexington Financial Center in Lexington, Ky.,Wednesday, February 26, 2014.
The Lexington Financial Center in Lexington, Ky.,Wednesday, February 26, 2014. Charles Bertram Herald-Leader

Questions, comments, concerns, ideas for a future newsletter subject? Reach out to me at ahenderson@herald-leader.com and we can chat. Thanks!

This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "KY Fried History: The World’s (Lexington’s) Tallest Building."

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