Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice of St. Matthews, January 2, 1958: New in 1957 almost a carbon copyNews in 1957 almost a carbon of former yearsMeanwhile the City of St. Matthews continued its expansion. The City Council on January 8 gave first reading to two ordinancesproposing to annex an area on the south side of Shelbyville Road extending to Fairmeade.The area included 18 stores and professional offices, among them Pryor’s Restaurant, Landohr Bowling Alleys, andPendergrass Chevrolet.Also included were the St. Matthews Y.M.C.A., the Woman’s Club of St. Matthews the Kentucky Farm Bureau, and BeargrassChristian, Harvey Browne Memorial Presbyterian, and St. Matthews Methodist Churches.These annexations were completed in due time.Another important annexation was stopped, however, when residents of the area filed a remonstrance suit. The City Councilon June 4 had taken first steps to annex most of the unincorporated area between Browns Lane, the Innerbelt Highway,and Shelbyville Road. The area to be annexed included the Shelbyville Road Plaza shopping center.The City completed another important action in April when it joined with the St. Matthews Business association to open afree municipal parking lot off Chenoweth Lane designed for accommodation of 240 cars.And the City got a break from the Court of Appeals which ruled in February that the ordinance by which St. Mathews collected1954 taxes was valid. The Court reversed a ruling made in 1955 by Circuit Jude Macauley Smith. More than$50,000 in taxes were involved.The attempt to incorporate Middletown as a sixth class City was started in January but failed as the incorporators could notget the required number of registered voters to sign the petition.But the move to incorporate Lyndon, which started late in November, seemed more likely of success. The move wasprompted by a City-County Planning and Zoning Commission decision rezoning 18 acres on Leyton Avenue for industrialuse.The men behind the incorporation filed a suit in Circuit Court the first week in December to reverse the rezoning decision.Two new sixth class Cities were created here. They were Broad Fields and Briarwood.A petition was filed April 8 in Circuit Court for incorporation of Broad Fields as a City of 54 homes just southwest of St.Matthews. The incorporation was granted and the City held it first meeting May 31.Emil Maresz, of 3600 Graham Road, was elected Mayor and plans were made for annexation of the 30-some additionalhomes in the subdivision, not included in the original incorporation. The annexation was completed in July.Briarwood was incorporated in December, and Robert H. Davis, 31, of 2009 Japonica, was elected Mayor. The City is locatedoff Westport Road, just past the Children’s Center. There are 235 voters in the City.The incumbent George Washington Party had an easy time retaining the six St. Matthews City Council seats in the Novemberelection.They won by a majority of almost 3 to 1. Reelected were B. W. Gratzer, E. R. Grinstead, Henry Leathers, M. C. Rudy,Sam Rudy, and John Barker.Winners in Cherrywood for five trusted were Lucen Greene, Charles C. Myers, Rollo Fox, William Gladden and Evan A.Fraser.In Indian Hills, the incumbent Indian Party was reelected. Winning as trustees were R. Frank Gay, Henry D. Ormsby, Jr.,William B. Pirtle, W. R. Williamson, and William F. Lucas.On the County-wide level, St. Matthews was completely out of harmony with the rest of the County.While the Democratic ticket, headed by County Judge Bertram C. Van Arsdale, was sweeping back into office, St. Matthewswas going Republican by a margin of more that 9 to 7.St. Matthews vote wa the margin of victory for Republican Scott Miller in the Senate race against incumbent Arthur Grafton.The attempt to rezone 524 acres approved by the state at Lakeland for a Reynolds Metals plant and research center causeda tremendous debate not only in the East End, but throughout the community.Business interests were for it, particularly the Chamber of Commerce and the real estate men. Local labor unions also gobehind it on the hope of creating more jobs in the growing unemployment in the Falls City area.