Society of Urban Perambulators: Frankfort Avenue
July 18th, 2026
10:45 am - Meet at The Hotel Marty
11:00 am - Walking tour will begin
The next Society of Urban Perambulators (SoUP) event will take us through the historic, hilly neighborhood of Clifton as we look at some interesting sites along Frankfort Avenue. The area is home to a mix of historic architecture and new developments, which we will be able to take a look at.
We will be meeting at The Hotel Marty (1737 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY 40206), which has a coffee shop in the front facing Frankfort Avenue. We will be joined by District 9 Councilman Andrew Owen, who may provide some bits and pieces of information about the area as we walk through it.
Around 11am, we will leave The Hotel Marty and make our way towards the first and largest site, the new Dot Experience at the American Printing House for the Blind. The museum, set to open in October, will be the first in the world to make every single exhibit accessible to people of all needs, including those who cannot see them. We will be guided through this site by KNBA Principal Bob Hafferman.
Following Dot, we will make our way down towards Bingham Park. A historic park nestled between Frankfort Avenue and Brownsboro Road. The site is an original Olmsted park and is currently in the midst of a master planning process. Here we will hear from Olmsted Conservancy staff on the history of the site, it’s inclusive design, and maybe some about the park’s future.
Moving back towards the northern end of Frankfort, our next stop will be a historic home owned by frequent SoUP attendees Mark and Marina Thomas. They will show us around his recently renovated home and the carriage house being built on the rear of the property. Since Mark is an architect, he can provide some unique insights on working with historic properties and what its like building an auxiliary dwelling unit in Louisville.
Just across the street is a small park anchored by a unique and accessible art piece: the Clifton Multisensory Art Experience. The piece is designed to be experienced by anyone, whether it be through visuals or touch. Savannah Morris from Louisville Visual Arts will be joining us to talk about this experience.
Speaking of art, only a few blocks further east is our next stop: Kaviar Forge and Gallery. Scultpor and Blacksmith Craig Kaviar will walk us through his shop where he has worked on many iconic pieces over the past 30 years, ranging from handrails and doors to signage and statues.
As is tradition, we will end the event at a nearby bar for folks who want to hang out after the event. This SoUP will wrap up at the nearby historic Vernon Lanes (which serves food and drinks, not just bowling balls).
The Society of Urban Perambulators is a program by the Urban Design Studio at the University of Louisville. There is a SoUP Facebook Group if you are interested in joining. The events are free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP with our Director, Patrick Piuma (patrick.piuma@louisville.edu), so we know how many people to expect and who to contact if event details change. You can also RSVP on the facebook group event page.
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