Basketball fans in Louisville gathered Downtown Sunday on 10.10.10 for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the just-finished $238 million KFC Yum! Center designed by Populous architects, formerly HOK Sports, Venue, Event.  The 22,000 seat venue is the home of the University of Louisville Cardinals.

Populous designed the arena to reflect Louisville’s geographic situation at the Falls of the Ohio, a natural waterfall on the Ohio River around which the city was founded.  An undulating roof cascades toward the river with a single fluid gesture.

An adjacent street under the Second Street Clark Memorial Bridge has been converted into a pedestrian space featuring an installation by New York-based light artist Leni Schwendinger.  A public ceremony will take place this evening to unveil the light display incorporated into the bridge structure.

Schwendinger recently completed a light installation under a bridge at the New York Port Authority building and has been selected as part of a team to redesign Times Square.

City officials have pinned redevelopment hopes on the building and have already seen development spurred by the investment.  Several historic whiskey warehouses dating to the 1860s in surrounding blocks are being renovated to provide housing, retail, and entertainment space.