To honor the late William Falls, the City of Hopkinsville is inviting the community to a bridge dedication ceremony.
Falls was the head basketball coach at Attucks High School from 1935 to 1967. Under his leadership, the Attucks Basketball team had over 500 wins. In 1967, the Attucks High School student body integrated into Hopkinsville High School and Falls became the assistant coach of the basketball team.
Falls often drove players home after practice and in 1973 when he was driving three players home his car was struck by a train as it crossed the tracks on Lafayette Road. Falls and one other player was killed in the wreck and the other two players were injured.
In 2019, Falls was inducted into the Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame by his former players. At a September meeting, the Hopkinsville City Council approved naming the Hopkinsville Greenway System bridge that runs over Lafayette Road, “Coach William Falls Memorial Bridge.”
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight shared that himself and former mayor Wendell Lynch will be speaking about Falls and his legacy at the ceremony.
The bridge dedication ceremony is set for 2 p.m. on December 4 near the Lafayette Road and Dell Drive intersection.