University of Kentucky to halt work at construction site, assess human bones found there
The University of Kentucky said it will temporarily stop construction on the exterior portion of the Reynolds Building on Scott Street after multiple sets of skeletal remains were discovered at the site.
The university also said it wants to learn more about the “nature of the remains.”
The building, which is in the midst of a major renovation, is a former tobacco warehouse that Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said is in the same area as where a city cemetery was once located in the 1800s.
Over the past week and a half, the coroner has been called to the construction site four times because of human bones being discovered, he said Friday, the day the most recent remains were found.
UK spokesman Jay Blanton said in a statement Saturday the university will pause construction outside the building while it works to learn more.
“We will be working with UK experts and other officials as appropriate to ascertain the nature of remains that have been reported in recent weeks to the Fayette County Coroner,” Blanton said in the statement. “Our commitment is to be sensitive to any issues that arise and report fully and transparently what we determine. Work inside the building, which is nearly complete, will continue.”
Ginn said in an interview Friday that he would not seek to identify the bones but would have them “in safe keeping” until they would eventually be reburied.
He said buildings were constructed on the site of the old city cemetery after it filled up.
“The city cemetery filled up when the cholera epidemic came about and that’s how Lexington Cemetery on West Main was formulated,” Ginn said.
The Reynolds Building, which is being renamed the Gray Design Building, will house the College of Design and is scheduled to be finished early next year.
The structure was originally a tobacco warehouse for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and opened in 1917.
UK acquired the building in the 1960s and operated its art department there until it was closed more than 10 years ago because of poor conditions and the need for renovation.
