Why Lexington may spend $90,000 on a parking lot for Main Street Baptist Church

After months of back and forth, the city of Lexington and an historic African-American church have inked a tentative deal that would give the church first dibs on using a soon-to-be constructed temporary parking lot on Main Street.

Main Street Baptist Church’s two buildings straddle the former Jefferson Street bridge, which is in the process of being torn down to make way for the renovation and expansion of Rupp Arena and the Lexington Convention Center.

The 155-year-old church has used city-owned parking under that bridge for decades through an agreement with the city and the Lexington Center Corporation, which oversees Rupp and the convention center. That parking area will be lost during construction, which is currently underway.

Under an agreement that will get its fist reading before the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council at a Tuesday evening meeting, the city has agreed to spend $90,000 to build a small parking lot on less than an acre where the bridge once connected with Main Street. The church would have a right of first refusal for exclusive use of the parking lot, said Brandi Peacher, a project manager for the city.

But the Mary Todd Lincoln House, which is next to Main Street Baptist Church, also needs replacement parking during construction. It has 19 parking spots and will lose 10 of those during the construction and renovation of the convention center. The convention center expansion will be on the parking area behind Mary Todd.

Officials with the city, Mary Todd, and Main Street Baptist met Thursday to work on a solution that would allow both groups access to the soon-to-be-constructed parking lot, which will likely have a minimum of 30 spaces, Peacher said.

That tentative agreement would allow Mary Todd Lincoln use of existing Main Street Baptist parking and access to the newly-constructed lot for special events, officials with Mary Todd and Main Street Baptist said Friday

Gwen Thompson, executive director of Mary Todd, said admission fees largely pay for the operating costs of the historic home of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the few historic homes in the country that honors a woman. Without adequate parking, revenue will drop for the home that has been a museum since 1977, she said.

“Mary Todd Lincoln and Main Street Baptist have always been good neighbors,” Thompson said. “Our hours are not the same. They have always used our parking lot on Sundays when we were closed. This agreement will allow us to use their parking on days when they do not need it.”

During a Nov. 27 council work session, some council members expressed reservations about the agreement, in part because of concerns that the parking needs of Mary Todd Lincoln House had not yet been addressed.

But others were concerned the city would be spending money for the exclusive benefit of a private entity.

“I support this,” said Councilwoman Amanda Bledsoe during the work session. “But I have some concerns about precedent.”

More importantly, renting those parking spaces during University of Kentucky basketball games and other special events at Rupp Arena could generate enough money to pay the $90,000 cost to construct the parking lot, said Councilman Fred Brown.

Peacher said the city and the church have been working for weeks to come up with a solution that would address the church’s parking needs. The agreement gives the church first dibs on the parking lot for services on Sundays, Tuesdays and for funerals and weddings.

The city can still use the parking lot — which will be gated — for other events, Peacher said. Both sides must give the other party 24-hour notice, she said.

Peacher said the memorandum of understanding between the church and the city forbids the church from making money off the parking lot, which means it could not charge the public to park there during Rupp Arena events.

The temporary parking lot will be used for approximately three years, which is the likely construction timetable for the convention center, Peacher said. At that point, plans call for a proposed 10-acre Town Branch park adjacent to the expanded convention center.

The memorandum of understanding does not address long-term parking needs of either the church or Mary Todd Lincoln House.

Rorger Cornelius, an elder and senior assistant pastor with Main Street Baptist Church who has been involved with negotiations between the city and Lexington Center Corp. for more than 18 months , said the church had originally proposed a temporary gravel parking lot for the church’s use.

City officials balked and said they could not do that because of building codes, instead agreeing to pave the lot. That was not the church’s idea, Cornelius said.

“We didn’t ask them to spend the money to build the lot,” Cornelius said.

The $90,000 will come from unspent funds from other parts of the city’s budget, said Melissa Lueker, director of budgeting for the city.

The church, Cornelius said, has been operating in good faith that the Lexington Center Corporation would honor a verbal agreement made more than 30 years ago to not encroach on the church’s parking and to allow it access to Lexington Center parking when needed.

The bridge decking where the new parking lot will sit is not scheduled to come down until March, but the church has already lost parking and needs the replacement lot now, Cornelius said.

“We are working with them to see if they can change their construction schedule,” he said.

This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 1:47 PM.