Magistrates heard a presentation on finalizing plans for building the Paducah-McCracken County Sports Park at the former Bluegrass Downs horse track complex and into Stuart Nelson Park.
The McCracken County Sports Tourism Commission presented the 95 percent completion design and construction documents to the court, which when approved would allow the process of letting construction bids begin. Their latest estimated cost of the construction of the facility is $65 million. The actual cost will not be known until bids are received.
The 105-acre complex will consist of many large fields that will have the flexibility to be configured into combinations of smaller fields that can accomodate multiple sports including baseball, softball, soccer and football. The park property will also include a disc golf course, picnic and playground areas, and a memorial to Dr. Stuart Nelson.
The Bluegrass Downs side of the park will contain 682 paved parking spaces, and Stuart Nelson will have 535 parking spaces.
The grandstand from the original Bluegrass Downs horse track will be incorporated into the facility with a large indoor concourse area, plus retail and concession facilities. The upper level of the grandstand will include an indoor dining area with sightlines to a championship athletic field.
Electrical conduits are planned on the field to allow the possibility of concerts to be held in front of the grandstand seating.
A similar presentation will be made to the Paducah City Commission. Once both groups approve the design plans, the Sports Tourism Commission can work on procuring bids in the next several weeks.
The goal of the four-year collaboration between city and county is for the park to provide top-quality sports facilities for local teams, and also to become a regional destination for tournament play that would draw thousands of participants. The sports commission estimates that the facility could generate an economic impact on Paducah and McCracken County of $131 million in its first five years of use.
A video of the Sports Commission presentation is linked here .
In other action, the court passed a resolution declaring support for the Murray State University-Hutson School of Agriculture's efforts for a school of vetinary medicine, which would be the first in Kentucky.
The court also passed a resolution declaring McCracken County a nuclear ready Community and reaffirming support to reindustrialize the US Department of Energy site.
On the Net:
Fiscal Court meeting video
