Camp Kavanaugh—the 150-year-old Methodist campground and church retreat in Crestwood—could soon become a wedding-event venue equipped with short-term rental rooms and cabins.
Despite a secular shift for future use, the new owner, Crestwood Ventures LLC, vowed at a July 25 Oldham County Planning Commission hearing to maintain the site’s natural assets and rejuvenate the existing structures.
Oldham resident Cory Adkinson, the face of Crestwood Ventures and a partner of the 314 Exchange wedding venue in Pewee Valley, ultimately plans to convert four of five buildings on roughly 20 acres of the Kavanaugh property into short-term rental cabins, consolidate the Foeman lodge into 12 hotel-sized rooms and remodel the Tabernacle structure as the focal wedding event space.
The planning commission approved four motions toward that end at its July 25 meeting, among them a recommended zoning map amendment to allow for redevelopment of the parcel into short-term rental lodging and a private club. Ultimate approval of the zoning amendment rests with the Crestwood City Commission.
The planning commission also approved the applicant’s development plan, a conditional use permit to operate a wedding event venue on the property and a parking lot waiver.
Known in later years as the Kavanaugh Conference and Retreat Center, the historic Methodist campground formed in August 1875 as a vision of Bishop H.H. Kavanaugh.
A native of Winchester, Kavanaugh established the campground, located behind Crestwood United Methodist Church, as a religious retreat for ministers and laymen to refresh themselves, spiritually and mentally. Wide regional audiences visited the site for camp meetings at the beginning of the 19th Century.
The campground predominantly served The United Methodist Church but also became a popular destination for weddings and leadership-development seminars.
Cliff Ashburner, counsel for Crestwood Ventures, called the campground a “unicorn property” in his presentation to the planning commission. He also emphasized that his client’s application predominantly centers on the “core” of Camp Kavanaugh.
“Camp Kavanaugh, or ‘The Kavanaugh’ as we hope it will be called in the future, is a special place and sort of an island just to the south of Crestwood,” he said. [Its] physical assets like the pond, the buildings, the gathering spaces, the Tabernacle and the [Foeman] lodge are currently just sitting there empty.”
The development plan does not include any new structures on the property. The lodge building, according to Ashburner, will comprise most of the short-term rental units. It currently includes 27 units, but those will be renovated and combined into 12 “really nice” guest rooms, for weddings or otherwise.
“The back section of the lodge also looks out over the pond,” he said. “It’s like an oasis in the woods.”
The five remaining buildings will be restored to accommodate larger parties. Only one existing cottage on the property is too far-gone to restore and will be demolished, according to Ashburner.
The open-air tabernacle will require some “tender love and care” to bring up to speed, Ashburner said, as will the other buildings.
“Because [the tabernacle] was open to weather on either side, it will require significant investment,” he said. “Some of the buildings are in pretty rough shape due to the length of their vacancy. [That] includes storm damage and human damage [and] in the smaller buildings there’s vandalism. We believe getting the property active will be a benefit [to the community at large].”
Beyond renovations to existing buildings, Ashburner said his client intends to alter very little on the parcel.
“The proposal Crestwood Ventures has before you today really is to change the property minimally,” he said. “It’s no longer going to be a church retreat center—that day has passed—but it can still be a gathering place in the community [and] we think the reuse is consistent with what Camp Kavanaugh was.”
Adkinson of Crestwood Ventures lives on Cherry Lane bordering the Kavanaugh property, which he cited in response to noise concerns from a resident living on the same road.
Before owning 314 Exchange in Pewee Valley, Adkinson said he used to live across the street and struggled with noise, especially as the father of three young children.
“The previous owners had no noise restrictions to that and I suffered immensely with three young children as a result,” he said. “That is why at 314 we [now] have a noise ordinance where at 11 p.m., any audible amplified music is cut off and people generally leave after the party stops.”
Adkinson and Ashburner agreed to place several binding elements where no amplified music will be permitted after 10 p.m. if not enclosed in a building and after 11 p.m. if it’s inside a building and that events end by 12 p.m.
They also confirmed that ‘The Kavanaugh’ will operate seven days a week and cap its capacity at 275.
“We intend to be a seven-day-a week operation,” Adkinson said. “I can only speak to the experience we have at 314 Exchange in Pewee Valley, but 95% of [those] weddings are on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s likely we will use the venue Mondays through Thursday in more ways than we presently do at 314, but audible amplified music would not be present during those times.”
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