LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- For the past few months, the former Moby Dick at the corner of Poplar Level Road and East Indian Trail has sat vacant.
"We don't want an abandoned building," neighbor Gloria Crayton said.
But Crayton and many others living in the Newburg neighborhood said there is one thing they want to see even less than an empty building: another liquor store.
"This community has families that work," Crayton said. "You've got college kids in the community. You've got churches in this neighborhood."
"To me, it attracts negative activity," Metro Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, D.-District 2, said. "We have one there's a lot of loitering in the parking lot."
Shanklin said a company had applied for a liquor license at the location, which has been denied by the city but could still be approved by the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control. Monday evening, Shanklin and other concerned neighbors held their third protest at the location to say enough is enough.
"The first one we had about 20 people. Last week, we had 49 people that showed up," she said. "I just think it's time to stop loading down one area with these liquor establishments."
According to Shanklin, there are 19 stores that sell liquor within a mile of the proposed store's location, and that one more store is not needed in the neighborhood.
"There are things that we want in our community. Just because this is a low-income area doesn't mean that we want all liquor establishments and that type of thing," she said. "We had children 3 and 4-years-old with a sign that said, 'We want an ice cream parlor.'"
"I think another restaurant would be nice or maybe like a hobby store or something for the kids," Crayton said. "It could be a clothing store. It could be anything else beside a liquor store."
Shanklin said she is now awaiting word from the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control on whether the liquor license will be approved or denied before figuring out her next plan of action, but vowed she will continue fighting these new liquor stores in her community all the way to the top.