Title
A Resolution expressing the support of the Urban County Council for the repair and rehabilitation of the vacant Palmer Pharmacy Building on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets to create the WayPoint Center, a facility designed to offer education-based initiatives and programs to combat the high rate of poverty in Lexington's East End; and authorizing and directing the Mayor or her designee to submit a FY 2022 Appropriations Community Project Funding Interest Form and any supporting documentation related to this project to the Office of United States Representative Andy Barr. [Council Office, Maynard]
Body
WHEREAS, in 1961, Dr. Zirl Palmer built the Palmer Pharmacy off Fifth and Chesnut Streets in Lexington's East End and thereafter became one of the first African-Americans to own a pharmacy in Lexington;
WHEREAS, Dr. Zirl Palmer passed away in 1982 but left behind a legacy of community engagement in Lexington;
WHEREAS, the Palmer Pharmacy was then used to provide emergency shelter services as the Catholic Action Center until 2016, but has been vacant and dilapidated ever since;
WHEREAS, the majority of residents in Lexington's East End are African-Americans;
WHEREAS, the East End has one of the highest poverty rates in Lexington;
WHEREAS, the Urban County Government recognizes that education-based training initiatives and programs are critical to combatting poverty in this neighborhood;
WHEREAS, restoring the Palmer Pharmacy building into a new facility that could offer such initiatives and programs would honor the legacy of Dr. Palmer;
WHEREAS, the Urban County Government desires to partner with United Way of the Bluegrass to repair and rehabilitate the historic Palmer Pharmacy building to create the WayPoint Center to offer these initiatives and programs;
WHEREAS, the Mayor desires to propose the repair and rehabilitation of the Palmer Pharmacy building for funding through the FY 2022 federal...
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