There is exciting news to report about the immediate future of a dormant church at 601 E. Market in NuLu, but first, the answer to the lingering question of what became of the project previously proposed for the site.
In December, 2018 the Courier Journal’s Maggie Menderski introduced readers to the ChurchKey project slated for the corner of Market and Hancock.
NuLu joint will be part sports bar, part bocce ball, part Cajun-creole
(Scott Smith) knows the folks behind Rhein Haus, the German-inspired bocce, beer and brats concept that has locations in Denver, Seattle and Tacoma.
The (Weyland) development team, too, took some inspiration from Pinewood Social in Nashville. That restaurant hotspot is rigged out with bocce ball, two dipping pools and bowling.
These aren’t just places that people go to eat. They’re places people go to be together. And that’s the vision for ChurchKey when it opens next year.
Obviously ChurchKey never opened in 2019. The most recent post at its Facebook page appeared more than three years after Menderski’s initial preview.
Fortunately we’re not here to adjudicate disputes, so let’s turn to the news of a brand new plan, as revealed last November at Men’s Journal during the course of explaining Heaven’s Door Whiskey’s acquisition of a Kentucky distillery to serve as its home base.
But if Pleasureville (the distillery) is too far for folks to get to, not to worry: Heaven’s Door is opening a second location in the heart of Louisville in the NuLu district. Appropriately, the mixed-use venue, coined The Last Refuge, is a former church. Once renovated, it will offer a brand experience that incorporates art, music, and way more whiskey than you might expect
For those previously unaware, Heaven’s Door Whiskey is the brainchild of none other than Bob Dylan.
Of all the celebrity whiskeys that have buoyed to the tops of our social media feeds and newsletters, few have made a mark quite like Heaven’s Door. Backed by Bob Dylan, with bottles that sport his steampunk metalwork designs, Heaven’s Door has established itself as a serious whiskey in its own right—beyond the star-powered affiliation.
Yesterday at WDRB, Joel Schipper got down to details.
Historic Louisville church to house whiskey bar, art gallery from Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Spirits
A 144-year-old church in Louisville’s NuLu district could soon be...Read more
