Approaching the Distillery District from downtown Lexington, Ky., motorists are taken aback by the large black-and-red mural depicting what looks to be _ depending on your perspective _ a demented scuba diver, a man wearing a gas mask, or more menacingly, a prison inmate flashing what may or may not be a gang symbol. Underneath are scrawled the words, "Caution. Do not feed."
What it is is a controversial self-portrait by the French muralist MTO, and for some Lexingtonians not exactly a warm and fuzzy addition to the city's burgeoning public art scene. The mural, however, seems entirely appropriate as one of the key features of Lexington's newest arts-and-entertainment corridor, the Distillery District.
Sandwiched between two historic bourbon distilleries _ the now defunct Old Tarr and the recently re-opened James E. Pepper _ the area doesn't exactly scream tourist hot spot. It's gritty rather than genteel, seedy rather than sanitized, urban rather than urbane.
So, just why has such a scruffy side of this famously refined city become the newest go-to destination, where every night locals and visitors alike scramble for seats in the smattering of spots that have opened in the past few years?
Chad Burns, a distiller at Barrel House Distilling Co., says it goes well beyond the Pure Blue Vodka and Devil John's Moonshine that his company makes.
"On a deeper level, the appeal is in the revitalization of something that was once the lifeblood of Lexington," he says.
It was indeed. By 1810, more than 100 distilleries operated in or near the city, and by the late 1800s, the two distilleries that bookend the current district produced some 36,000 barrels of bourbon annually.
Alas, in the years to follow, various economic downturns and the advent of Prohibition caused a decline in production and a languishing of the once prominent district. Less than a decade ago, it was an urban eyesore _ a blighted area of empty warehouses and abandoned buildings.
What a difference a decade _ and some thoughtful development plans _ have made. Today, Old Tarr, the region's first registered distillery (1866), has been converted into the Manchester Music Hall, while James E. Pepper has re-opened and for the first time in 60 years is once again producing bourbon.
Over the next few years, the distillery's Rickhouse, where the barrels are aged, will be redeveloped into a complex of coffee shops, restaurants and retail that will play off the dynamics of the district's rich past.
