Revitalization of downtown Hopkinsville is at the forefront of Mayor J.R. Knight’s mind, as they look for ways and revenues to make their wants for downtown and Hopkinsville as a whole reality.
Speaking with WHOP Friday morning, Mayor Knight says he and his team recently took a trip to Henderson and discussed their city-scape for their downtown area, gathering ideas on what they would like to see happen in a similar fashion here and how they might get investors interested in that area.
The mayor says they’ll look into how they could fund such endeavors while remaining responsible with tax-payer dollars. He says they Phoenix Building is slowly coming down, while crews on behalf of the Cravens family work to preserve as much of the historic building as they can.
He, Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam and Hopkinsville Police Chief Jason Newby recently sat down for a meeting with the local branch of the NAACP to have an open discussion, and Mayor Knight says he’d like to see that happen more often to help make Hopkinsville a better place for everyone.
They’re looking into ways to make downtown more inviting for people to not only visit and walk, but to call it home by living in the apartments downtown, or how to get a grocery store to that area.