MSD in the Community

Converting industrial buildings into art

Fourth Street Pump Station Mural
Artist Whitney Olsen transformed our Fourth Street Pump Station at the intersection of Fourth and Main streets from the blank white walls on the bottom left into a colorful mural called Hope Springs - The Wishing Well. Olsen's creation features flowing waterways teeming with fish, turtles and birds, all symbols of safe, clean waterways.

 

Bingham Way Pump Station
The pale doors of our Bingham Way Pump Station got an artistic makeover through Louisville Downtown Partnership's Alley Gallery Program. Lonnie's Lincoln is by artist Lonnie Walker. Run for the Roses was created by Andy Perez.

Vacant land to beautify and support the environment

Seventh Street Community Garden

MSD is putting our vacant parcels of land to use to support the community and the environment. Some land that MSD owns must never be developed in the traditional sense due to the critical structures that serve our community far below the surface but can be used to beautify a neighborhood.

One such parcel of property in the Taylor-Berry area now serves as a community garden. Deep below the surface where more than 300 gardeners work the land is the largest sewer pipe in MSD’s vast system.

In partnership with Catholic Charities and Common Earth Gardens, Jefferson County Cooperative Extension manages the Seventh Street Community Garden. These six acres of urban farmland—rented by farmers—provide more than 230,400 pounds of produce to local gardeners annually, supporting the gardeners and their families.

Volunteers planted more than 50 trees provided by Louisville Metro Parks and Community Forestry. The trees will not only beautify the site but add to the urban tree canopy. Careful planning ensures that roots will not go deep enough to interfere with any of the pipes.

Beechmont pollinator garden

Another MSD-owned parcel of vacant land—where deep below the surface is a large sewer interceptor pipe—is now home to a pollinator garden in the Beechmont Neighborhood. The third-of-an-acre site is maintained by the Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District in partnership with the Beechmont Neighborhood Association.