LaGrange, KY - Bluegrass Eye Center is pleased to announce its plans to build a two-story 19,500 square foot medical office building, seeking a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. The facility will be located at 6400 Westwind Way, off Highway 329 in Crestwood, Ky. Bluegrass Eye Center will have its groundbreaking this Friday, August 15, 2008. Refreshments will be served at 11:30 a.m. with the groundbreaking ceremony starting at 12:00 p.m.

Bluegrass Eye Center's new facility is the only known project in Oldham Co. currently seeking LEED Silver Certification status for a private building. Ophthalmologists Dr. Anne Huntington, Dr. John Distler and Dr. Matthew Blair own the medical practice, which will occupy about 8,000 square feet of the building and the remainder of the building will be leased primarily for medical practices to allow for healthcare services to be readily available in the growing local community of Crestwood and Oldham, East Jefferson, Henry, Shelby and Trimble counties.

Features of the facility include geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water heating, the use of recycled and sustainable materials, native vegetative landscaping, passive day-lighting techniques, insulated concrete form walls, sunscreens and low-e windows.

"Energy costs are going up and we are learning more and more how to help out the environment. When we began this venture and heard of some local public facilities being LEED certified, we knew it was the responsible thing to do," said Dr. Blair, Co-owner of Bluegrass Eye Center.

National City Bank financed the project for the doctors' real estate holding company, DHB Properties, LLC. Other consultants on the project include H & H Design-Build, which is handling the architectural design and construction, CMTA, who is handling the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, Generation 14 serving as the LEED consultant, BTM Engineering, who is handling the civil, landscaping and structural engineering and Swope Design, which is providing the interior design of the medical office building.