Sheldon S. Shafer

@sheldonshafer

A recreational activity that is a bit different – throwing axes at targets – will be offered in a venue on North Clay Street across from the Louisville Extreme Park, with a late March or early April opening planned.

The venue, planned by a partnership of five men doing business as Flying Axes Inc., served notice of the project when they filed an application for an alcoholic-beverage license with metro regulators on Monday.

Flying Axes is renting all the space in an industrial warehouse on the southwest corner of Clay and Franklin streets for the venture, Zack Pennington, one of the partners, said in an interview Monday. The others involved are Mike Brown and three partners in Forest Giant – Dave Durand, Jon Shaw, and Jesse Lucas. It is a tech firm that specializes in creative engineering solutions.

Pennington said many of the operating details are not yet certain. But he said the venue will be open at least five days a week and that it probably will cost at least $20 for an hour or more of ax-throwing.

Each participant will have the use of a coach who will teach and monitor proper throwing techniques and adherence to safety precautions. Plans call for contests and perhaps leagues, Pennington said, and the venue probably will offer snacks as well as beverages.

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Pennington said the partners like the location on the edge of Butchertown and its proximity to the riverfront and the emerging NuLu district.

Plans for the Flying Axes business were announced in sketchy form last spring, but the location had not been disclosed until the new metro filing. The Louisville outlet may be the first ax-throwing venue in the country south of Chicago, the organizers said.

Ax-throwing is an indoor recreational sport in which teams compete by throwing axes at wooden targets. The Flying Axes facility will cater to corporate team-building events, group outings and ax-throwing leagues that might be formed, a news release said.

In the last year, ax-throwing venues have opened in a handful of American cities, including Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Chicago, according to websites.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.

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