Heaven Hill Distilleries today announced plans to build a downtown Louisville attraction based on its Evan Williams brand of bourbon. The $9.5 million Evan Williams Bourbon Experience will be housed in a company-owned building in the 500 block of West Main Street.Evan Williams was a Welsh immigrant who settled in Louisville and set up a distillery in 1783, along what would become known as Whiskey Row."This area of main street was an important center of commerce for the bourbon industry, and now Evan Williams, Kentucky’s first commercial distillery, is coming back home to his original locale," Harry Shapira, Heaven Hill's executive vice president, said at a press conference.Heaven Hill is now based in Bardstown.Shapira says the renovated building will include a working distillery (left) and other attractions, including a huge bourbon bottle that will empty into a fountain in the building's lobby (right).The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience is scheduled for completion in September of 2013. The bourbon sector is making a comeback along the Main Street corridor. Michter's Distillery announced last year it will transform a nearby building into a distillery that will offer tours and tastings.(Information for this story also came from the Associated Press. Renderings courtesy of Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.