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Four Western Kentucky State Parks Get $3.7M in Upgrades

Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet

Kentucky’s state park system is in need of $240 million dollars in repairs according to state Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Secretary Don Parkinson. In an effort to address safety and aesthetic issues, Parkinson and Kentucky State Parks commissioner Donnie Holland unveiled plans today to spend $3.7 million on repairs, upgrades and fresh coats of paint at four western parks. 

The state resort parks at Lake Barkley, Kentucky Dam Village, Kenlake, and the Pennyrile Forest are set to be improved over the next two years. The upgrades are part of the “Refreshing the Finest” campaign, an $18 million effort approved by the general assembly and Governor Matt Bevin.

Parkinson and Holland say it has been decades since the state invested in its park system. Deferred maintenance, Holland says, is the reason the lodge at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park caught fire and why the conference center at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park has been condemned.

“At Greenbo [Lake State Resort Park] in the far end of the state, the roof had been leaking for ten years. Last October it finally leaked enough that it got in onto the switch gear and caught the lodge on fire. That lodge is still down. It will be down, probably, until the first of next year,” Holland said. He says 11 park facilities are in need of new roofs and each roof costs $2 million to replace.

“We have billions and billions of dollars invested in the park system and we’re not getting returns,” Parkinson said. “We’re losing money on the parks even though we have big economic impact. We can do a lot better and we’re going to do a lot better.”

Pennyrile Economic Development District’s Amy Frogue says Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake tourism activities are the main economic driver in the Pennyrile. “ I think that the return on investment is going to be astronomical as far as the tourism income for this region,” Frogue said. The area’s next biggest economic drivers are manufacturing and coal, according to Frogue.

Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Randy Newcomb says tourism is also a main economic driver in the Purchase area. He says Kentucky Lake has a $132 million economic impact in Marshall County alone.

Frogue says communities can use increased tourism revenue from hotel and restaurant taxes to reinvest in infrastructure, facilities, and services for local citizens. She says these quality-of-life improvements would make the region more attractive to people, business, and industry.

Parkinson says tourism is Kentucky’s third biggest industry at $13 billion. He adds that tourism is up 5 percent this year and revenue from the state’s 1 percent room tax is up 10 percent.

A proud native of Murray, Kentucky, Allison grew up roaming the forests of western Kentucky and visiting national parks across the country. She graduated in 2014 from Murray State University where she studied Environmental Sustainability, Television Production, and Spanish. She loves meeting new people, questioning everything, and dancing through the sun and the rain. She hopes to make a positive impact in this world several endeavors at a time.
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