Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice Of St. Matthews, January 3, 1957: Highlight 1956Mallon Plan, Church Growth, Court Decision Highlight 1956Building Of Homes Was Off 25%The big stories in St. Matthews for the year 1956 were the defeat of the Mallon Plan, the defeat of the school tax, the Courtof Appeals decision giving Louisville the right to annex part of the St. Matthews business district, the growth of localchurches and new big buildings finished here or projected for 1957.There were many other stories, of course, some of them good and some bad.Home-building in this area was off about 25 percent a V.A. and G.I. loans become increasingly difficult to get. Commercialconstruction was way down. Few new businesses opened.The school population continued to increase, and some schools added wings, but no new schools were built.The St. Matthews Y.M.C.A. continued to expand and grow. A new theatre group was started—under the auspices of the Y.The older Theatre groups—the St. Matthews Community Theatre, the Y.M.H.A. and Lyndon Theatres, the Anchorage Children'sTheatre-continued their yearly drama programs.Sports programs in this area were greatly expanded, as a new Babe Ruth League Baseball program came into being, and St.Matthews Little League built a second park.Trinity became a full-fledged high school and its athletic teams, along with those of Eastern High, at times threatened tomake the East End the scourge of the County and State.Annexation Plan: The Mallon Plan was essentially simple. Put together by a committee of private citizens appointed bythe County Judge and the Mayor of Louisville, the Plan derived its name from the committee chairman John Mallon.Under the Plan, Louisville would annex all its urbanized suburbs. This would have included 46 square miles and 68,000people. It would have taken in Shively, St. Matthews, and the 15 incorporated Cities in the St. Matthews area, besides adozen others in the County.The State Legislature passed the necessary law to put the Plan in effect, providing that a majority of the people in the suburbsand in Louisville voted for the Plan.Under the Plan, the suburban cities would agree to turn over their assets and liabilities to the City of Louisville. Theywould be required to pay Louisville's $1.50 property tax rate.In return Louisville would provide municipal services. The Metropolitan Sewer district under the Plan would have extendedsewers into the suburbs over a six-year period.M.S.D. would take over St. Matthews Sanitation District NI. 1 and grant the home-owners of the district a slight reductionin sewer rates. Water rates would also be reduced. Nothing was said about schools.Opposition Aroused: The Plan ran into trouble in late summer. The Suburban Citizens committee, made up of suburbanhomeowners and some sixth-class City officials, organized a propaganda drive pointing out the shortcomings of the Plan.Cherrywood Village trustees and the St. Matthews Jaycees came out against the plan.But more important than all of these was the sometimes active but always fairly quiet, resistance of the suburban residentsand leaders.People didn’t trust Louisville. They don’t believe annexation was the answer to Louisville problems, or to that of the suburbs.They felt they could handle their own affairs better, either individually, or through their small Cities, which hadproved able to provide garbage, fire and police services at reasonable rates.Another factor was the cost. The Mallon Committee produced figures showing that annexation by Louisville would costmost suburban residents $5 to $80 a year more. This undoubtedly influenced some people.Over television and radio, in the newspapers, and on public platforms, the debate raged during the summer and fall. Speakerswent to scores of P.T.A. meetings, civic club affairs, and other gatherings to denounce or support the plan.Suburbs Defeat It: The downtown daily newspaper supported the Plan. The Voice and other suburban newspapers opposedit. It is doubtful if the pros and cons of any other local public issue had ever been so thoroughly discussed in publicand private.Election Day was Nov. 6. The people of Louisville voted for the Plan by about 36,000 votes to 24,000.But the people of the suburbs rejected it by two-to-one. The vote in A district comprising the greater St. Matthews area,was unofficially, 8,986 against, and only 4,585 for.