Louisville, where we introduce you to the people, places and things that make up Kentucky's largest city.

This week we go inside.

Lynn Family Stadium, the $65 million project officially opened in 2020, in Louisville's Butchertown neighborhood, in an area that used to be a literal junkyard.

Well, today, the 15,000 capacity stadium is home to Louisville's two professional soccer clubs.

LOU city FC and Racing Louisville FC.

And new.

This year, it is also home to the Louisville Kings, the city's professional football team.

Yes, that's American football, part of the United Football League.

Well, the plan was for the stadium to be part of a 40 acre mixed use entertainment district, funded in part through tax increment financing, or TIF.

Now, five years later, the area around the stadium is still vacant.

No hotels, offices or restaurants is promised, but some new developments are on the horizon.

But before we look ahead at what's next for Lynn Family Stadium, let's take a look back at how we got here.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Before, there were cheering fans, fireworks.

Or pro sports teams.

This area of Louisville's Butchertown neighborhood was a literal junkyard, but it didn't begin that way.

This area is Louisville's original meat packing district.

Its roots can be traced back to the late 1700s, long before it was called Butchertown.

Settlements began along Beargrass Creek and industry followed.

The Adams Street area, named after President John Quincy Adams, became known as Butchertown because of the many German butchers and the shotgun homes housing workers for nearby Bourbon Stockyards.

[MUSIC] In the 1920s and 30s, the area was thriving as Louisville's first designated neighborhood to the east, but the flood of 1937 wiped out nearly everything.

Few homes and businesses survived.

One that did was Saint Joseph Catholic Church, one of the area's most notable landmarks that still stands tall today.

[MUSIC] The neighborhood became industrial.

Many of the original homes were torn down.

More people moved to the suburbs in the 1950s, and an interstate was built through the neighborhood in the 1960s.

That's when a few of the neighborhood's remaining residents banded together to preserve the working class neighborhood and protect the homes that remained.

The neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and the area was designated as a local preservation district in 2003, which helped preserve the area's architectural style that remains today.

But back then, much of the area remained as dilapidated buildings and industrial junkyards.

Enter LOU city.

>> It's really turned into what can we do for Louisville?

>> After five years of playing pro soccer at Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville City FC was looking for a permanent home.

In 2017, they announced the plan to turn 40 acres into a state of the art stadium, giving the Butchertown area a crown jewel visible from Spaghetti Junction.

[MUSIC] The stadium was named Lynn Family Stadium in 2019, and in 2020, after being delayed a few months because of Covid, LOU city FC kicked off their first home game inside their new stadium.

Lynn Family Stadium is named after the family of doctor Mark Lynn, a local optometrist, businessman turned philanthropist.

And a lot of people say, how did an optometrist end up as the name of all these amazing construction projects all across the city?

But a lot of people say you are a visionary, which makes sense.

>> So a little play on terms.

>> Would you say so?

>> Well, you know, I asked myself that question a lot too.

How did we end up here?

And it's really, you know, God is taking good care of myself and my family.

And so with that, we do our best to give back.

And we've been very, very fortunate.

Louisville is home.

It's where I was born, moved here right after school in 1985 and got out of optometry school and started with LOU Bowser downtown on First and Market, and just learned the business that way and then became a minor partner with the Buser family in 92, then bought Jerry Bowser out in 98.

We had 19 locations when I bought it, and from 1998 to 2021, we built that into 93 locations in six states and sold that in 2021.

Now I've started all over again with Lynn Family Vision, but in the meantime, we did what we could do to help take care of Louisville because Louisville's home, it's where my four kids are.

It's where my 17 grandkids are.

This is this is life.

And if everybody could give back a little, everything would be a lot better.

And we just try to do the best we can to to help what we can do.

>> Yeah.

And I know family is so important to you and.

>> All of your kids are here.

Like you mentioned, your grandkids.

And and it was important that it was Lynn Family Stadium.

Why?

>> Well, my wife and I talked about that a lot, and it was we wanted it to be more for something that meant, take care of yourself.

Take care of your fellow man, not business.

Business is always something you can go do.

You can go get a business, start a business working or whatever.

But when you consider everybody family, then you take care of each other.

And the Lynn Family Stadium is about Lynn family trying to help take care of everybody we can and the family to understand that.

I want the grandkids to understand what it means to to help.

And that was really the point.

>> And this is not the the only project by far, of what your family has contributed to in the city.

The the University of Louisville soccer stadium is a doctor, Mark Lynn Stadium and Ballard football field.

And and then you mentioned a new project at Spalding.

>> It's not been named yet, but it's been done and it'll be announced soon.

A little little it's not a big project, but another small project there.

We've worked with Male High School.

We worked with Sacred Heart Academy.

We have the Kentucky Basketball High School Hall of Fame is the doctor Mark and Cindy Lynn Hall of Fame.

So and it's important to keep the history alive.

It's important to keep things associated with kids alive.

We do a lot of work with the visually impaired.

Preschool services have for many, many years, and it fits right in with with who we are and what we do.

I mean, think about having a newborn or a small child that's partially or non sighted.

Most of the state and federal programs don't start until school age.

So how do you teach a kid to grab a rattle, or to hold a spoon, or to deal with a bottle when they can't see?

And parents need help.

And so it's a great, great service to help the kids, help the parents and help them get forward in life.

But we work with a lot of different groups and try our best to to spread it out as best we can.

>> A lot of people who are would be in your same position as being very successful in the business world, would probably sit back, put their feet up and maybe buy a house on an island somewhere.

Why do you want to use your money and success in this way?

>> You know, it's it's.

>> The right thing to do.

Setting back and just setting still is.

You might as well just shoot me if I'm going to have to do that.

I can't do that.

My wife would kill me too if I stayed home.

But no, it's it's just not who either one of us are.

When we sold the business in 2021, before that ever got finished, I had started the sports vision and training business.

I always loved working with athletes and having a little fun, so I thought it'd be my retirement job, just, you know, play with the soccer teams and football team, baseball teams.

And that has expanded.

And I now do some work with everything from the Cincinnati Reds.

We've got a meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders to USC and a group called Oculo out of Germany in London that we're working with.

I've got a call in a couple days with the Lisa League and their medical teams on our concussion protocols.

So everything that we've done is just sort of exploding.

And I'm in the middle of developing new projects.

I've done a lot of work with traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, stroke victims, Parkinson's.

We have developed new diagnostic and rehabilitation services that actually allow people to get better, faster and just find life again.

And then on top of that, we've developed new FDA approved devices that help keeping you feel better.

The goal was, and when we started, I see so many high school and college athletes that lose a semester a year that that lose part of their life from traumatic brain injury.

They'll rehab, they'll get better, but they get behind.

And so we have developed a way to help them maintain.

And that's led into people being able to stay on the job and keep their paychecks coming in.

And so it has helped in a lot of different ways.

So now my retirement 25, 30 hours a week.

Go have fun.

I'm putting in about 65 hours a week, six days a week, going and developing new new processes and procedures to help people find life again.

And it's been fun, rewarding, challenging.

And you don't realize how dumb you are till you start down something new and how much you don't know.

And so the learning process has been really fun for me.

I'm a I'm a geek at heart.

My undergrads, engineering, physics, computer science.

And so it's the way my brain works.

It's just got to go.

But sitting at home and sitting back, I've got a boat, I can go on.

We go out when we want.

We travel with the kids.

I mean, it's it's all there.

You just got to schedule it, do it, put it all together.

So.

>> Yeah.

And attending a lot of soccer games and a.

>> Lot of soccer.

>> Games at Lynn Family Stadium.

So you said you you have barely missed any the whole time the team's been here.

What's it like for you seeing the success that this stadium has had in an area that as, as we mentioned, was a junkyard.

>> And what.

>> It's done for the city.

>> Literally was a junkyard.

And it was Wayne Estopinal who was one of the key drivers to this, as I'm sure you know, years ago, before Wayne passed away in the plane crash, he and I argued about where the stadium should go and where it should be presented.

And as usual, Wayne was right, and it should go where it needs to go.

And and it was the perfect place for it.

And the, the working with the city and soccer holdings, John, Eastern and Mike and the team and putting the thing together and bringing it all to to life and fruition and having the the wherewithal was, was really encouraging and strong to see because it was a real step out.

Wayne was a good proponent and had it there.

But you had to believe in Louisville and stepping up for the naming rights for the stadium, you know, it's not like you're an investor.

So the return on the money is not there.

It's just the naming rights.

From an ownership standpoint, it's not.

But it's really rewarding to see what people think about it and see how it works.

And it's it's special and didn't have a ton to do with everything coming together with it from the beginning.

But we're there a lot now and it's very important and take a lot of pride in it being being right.

So it's it's humbling at at all cost.

>> So take me back to that time though, when you where were some of the other discussions about where this should go?

>> And we had.

>> Areas on on the west side, the big open area down near the falls on our side of the falls, obviously, but and then we had there was a place down on the south side of Louisville and we had eight, ten, 12 areas, and he had maps and drawings and how it would lay.

And we said at the conference table in my office and, and talked and talked and talked.

And he kept turning back to page one, and I kept going to page four.

And he goes, no, man, you got to understand, because of where it is and how it's going to be seen, the ease of site, the the traffic.

And I'm going hard to get to one road in and out, but it is the right place for it to be.

>> Yeah.

>> Definitely the right place.

>> It has truly begun, at least to transform that area.

And I know the plan before hand was to have this entire entertainment district around it that hasn't quite come to fruition yet.

What do you see the future being there?

>> I still.

>> See that happening, but it's a it's a much slower process because you have to get not just the city, but you have to get the right business people in to bring the right pieces.

There have been proposals to do a lot, and I'm not sure they've been the right mix or been able to work within the confines of what we have, and that's where it's good to have the local business community involved, as well as not just soccer holdings, not just us, but the city of Louisville, the state of Kentucky.

It all has to fit, and it's still growing.

There's still plans out there.

There's a lot of talk going on, and I still think it'll it'll happen.

You know, when the stadium opened, it was in the middle of Covid.

So everything took a nosedive.

And then you know the history as well or better than I do.

And we're just now starting to really come out of that lack of business, lack of of moving forward.

Everything got real stagnant, real slow for a long time.

And so it takes a while.

But it's it's heading that way.

>> Yeah.

It'll be interesting.

It's good.

>> There's a lot of good stuff out there.

>> Well thank you so much.

We appreciate you being here.

And when we come back, we'll talk to James O'Connor, the former professional footballer who is now the president of Soccer Holdings, the holding company of LOU City FC and Racing Louisville.

That is next for what is the future of Lynn Family Stadium.

We'll talk about that.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] James O'Connor is here.

Welcome.

He is the president of Soccer Holdings LLC, which is the holding company now for LOU City FC and Racing Louisville.

And you have gone from a professional player to coach and now president of this organization.

So that has been an exciting thing, I imagine, to see.

And you were with LOU City from the very beginning.

So talk about kind of that transition.

You know, back when they were playing at Slugger Field.

>> Absolutely.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for for having me.

And I think when we look at where we've come from, it's an amazing story I think to to start in a baseball stadium as a USL team.

And now, you know, many people look around and see obviously tier one women, they see a massive academy, they see the training ground, they see the stadium.

So there's been amazing growth over the years.

And I think that's testament to our to our ownership's vision and commitment.

I think when you look at we had to build proof of concept, knowing that we needed to get a stadium.

And I think the the public private partnership with the city is a great example to a number of cities that just what can be achieved when people sort of get together and are really committed to trying to bring something like this to the city.

>> We talked to Doctor Lynn about this too, but take us back to that time when you know you're trying to establish pro soccer in Louisville and trying to convince people that it's going to work.

And, and a stadium being built on a literal junkyard and bringing it to that part of the city.

What what was that conversation and process like?

>> It's been amazing, but also really one of of great learning.

And when I first came here as the coach, obviously I wasn't fully up to speed with how important collegiate sports were and still are.

And I remember the kick off time historically in, in soccer would be in the evening time.

And John and Laettner came to me and he said, we're going to have to kick off earlier because of March Madness.

And I'm like, well, that's college basketball.

This is pro pro soccer, you know?

And he's like, I'm telling you, there'll be nobody here.

So we ended up playing in the afternoon.

I always remember we we beat Saint Louis in the very first game and we sort of went from there.

But we had a really good crowd.

It was really good appetite.

It was an amazing sort of momentum that had been built with the owners and the Coopers.

So there was a real passion to bring a team to the city, and we were fortunate that we were able to have an element of success in the first year.

And I think that garnered even more sort of fandom, if you like.

And it sort of it managed to go from there, but it became really serious for us was the the importance of being able to get around home.

And I think the bats was a great home in the short term, but for long term sustainability, that was never going to be able to work.

So the importance of being able to build proof of concept, being able to garner enough city support, community support to get people to care enough about the team to be able to get around home and what we're going to go on a very similar journey in the next couple of years, because now we're hopefully going to go to tier one on the men's side.

So that now again is another iteration of of growth.

And that will also bring a lot of excitement to the city because the, the, the standard of soccer is going to be elevated.

Again, similar to our tier one women's team, where you have high class internationals that are coming every week into into Louisville.

So it's a really exciting time and there will be a lot of synergy about what's going to happen and what has happened that we'll be able to utilize to help us on the next iteration of our journey.

>> And now professional football, American football.

I should clarify.

Yeah, is coming to the stadium.

>> It sure is.

Yeah.

>> And so that's an exciting addition to but as far as what the stadium has changed for, not only the the soccer teams and the fans talk about how that's changed the city in general and that area around there.

I know when it was first proposed, it was going to be a full entertainment district.

Is that still it works?

>> It absolutely is.

I mean, we we obviously had the initial announcement around the apartments.

That would be the first phase.

So we're really excited about that.

And I think the the frustration, I think for everyone has been obviously Covid, the impact that that had and then the ability for us to be able to get a shared vision of what that area needs to look like, because I think when you look at the best in class areas around the country, they have an amazing stadium, but around that they have high class housing and then entertainment district, which allows for everyone to be able to enjoy not just the stadium but some of the facilities around the stadium.

So we're really excited to be able to get phase one launched.

We've got some great partners that we feel very confident in their ability to deliver, so we're truly excited about what the next couple of years is going to look like, because we're going to have tier one men's soccer.

We obviously have tier one women's soccer, and now the development looks as if we can hopefully start to get going with that as well.

So yeah, it's all come together, which we're very pleased about.

>> Yeah.

And I know there has been some frustration with the timing there, and I know because it did open during Covid.

But now five, almost six years later now there's still a lot of just parking lots around there.

And you know this one proposal for apartment development.

But there were promises of hotels and restaurants and retail.

And that was part of this TIF district.

So where does that stand right now?

>> Yeah, I mean, it's a phased approach.

I think that is the best way to describe it.

I think when we look at the land that's there, the plans to be able to get a partner that can come in and can really help facilitate all of those plans.

We've had a number of people that have shown a lot of interest.

Now we feel as if we've got a great partnership to be able to get the first phase started.

And I think like everything, once the first phase starts to begin, people will start to see the vision and be more excited about what's coming.

So I think for us, the priority needs to be get ground broken, get that first phase in, get the apartments in, there'll be some retail component associated with that, and then you'll start to see the rest of the phases sort of fall in place then as well.

Yeah, we're truly excited about it.

>> And I know there was recently an appropriation by the General Assembly for an investment there to improve the area around the stadium.

Do you hope for more of that partnership from from the state and city?

>> Yeah.

I mean, we feel as if we've got great partners with the city and the state.

And I think just trying to get a better understanding of what that area can, can look like and the need around it.

There are some challenges around the stadium relative to different aspects of the actual the planning component, but there's definitely a huge desire from the mayor and from the state to be able to facilitate what needs to be done.

I think that's for all of us, is there's a shared vision and alignment to get things done.

And I think the stadium itself and the training ground are evidence of that.

And the bit that I think people maybe lose sometimes is with the training ground, the ability to be able to enhance soccer and really grow the game for youth sports, because we thought our fields that no matter what time you go up, are being utilized by the community.

So our own academy will train there, but we also have multiple sports that will come in.

So we've got lacrosse, we've got field hockey, flag football, and all of these youth sports have been able to be facilitated by our complex, which again, for us is really important.

As community partners, we want to grow not just soccer, but we want to give accessibility to to everyone in the community, which we've done a nice job of.

>> And now more of those announcements of downtown hotels and and more space coming.

Yeah.

And the promised development around the stadium.

What's your vision for how Lynn Family Stadium and that area around it will look for for five, ten, 15 years from now.

What's your goal?

>> Yeah, I think when you look at the the elite level stadia that are around the country, they all have an amazing entertainment district around it.

And I think that's the goal for us.

You know, we want to have housing down there.

We want to have retail.

We want to have that a place where people are looking to go and have fun.

And I think when you look at the growth of our city and you see how new LOU has continued to grow, I think when you look at Nulu and Butchertown and you see how close the stadium is to that whole environment, I think it's setting up to be a truly amazing area for us all.

It's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment, but I think our owners and the city have shown an amazing commitment to get things done, and that's something that we're we're truly excited about.

So my own personal hope in five years is we've got stadium full of supporters where we're supporting soccer, and we've got an amazing infrastructure around the stadium where people are living there, and it's the go to place in the city.

>> You can watch and share this episode anytime at streaming online at Keturah Johnny Nash Louisville plus, follow us on social media.

You can see that time lapse of the construction of Lynn Family Stadium and much more.

You can find us on Instagram at KETinLOU.

Thanks for spending a little time getting to know Louisville.

I hope we'll see you here next time.

Until then, make it a great week!