State could get new state park...

[seicer]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16420192.htm

Reposted snippets with permission. See article for full article.

Also see, Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve --

http://www.americanbyways.com/index.php?catid=18

"Garrard land sale could be for new state park

By Greg Kocher

CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU

The land is just south of the Kentucky River, on the west side of U.S. 27. Natures Trace subdivision borders the property on the southwest. The land is also bordered by the Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve, an 818-acre preserve in Garrard and Jessamine counties that is named for the former director and chairman of the Kentucky River Authority.

[...]

Napier has long supported creation of a state resort park as a means to boost the Garrard County economy. The 2006 Kentucky General Assembly approved $2.5 million toward a park.

[...]

A 2001 report estimated that a state resort park on Herrington could attract 271,000 visitors a year and pump $5.7 million annually into the Garrard County economy."

[seicer]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16439274.htm

The Palisades State Park will be located on 90 acres west of US 27 south of Nicholasville, on the Garrard and Lancaster County lines. It is across the Kentucky River from a "Civil War site that served as a recruitment and training center for African-American troops in the Union Army."

The state is seeking "requests for proposal" for lodging, in the form of a lodge or cottages. It will likely include a campground as well.

The park may also extend to Herrington Lake. The initial 90 acres was purchased from a land owner, and it could ultimately stretch down the river to the lake at the Dix River mouth.

[seicer]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16457441.htm

"A race for space along the river"

SLC: The article gives a look at development in Garrard County and it's "dumb development" - a term used to describe the opposite of smart growth. In recent years, the value of land has sky-rocketed from ~$700/acre to $4500/acre due to the four-lane widening of US 27 in the early 2000s and the ~20 minute commuting distance to Lexington.

The nature preserve is beautiful, but to the south is an awful housing development. What was formerly a farm, has random assortment of vinyl houses scattered haphazardly on the farm. A road circles the property. I should take photographs, it is _that_ ugly.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16457442.htm

"An environmental cornucopia"

The Herald-Leader discusses the rich foliage that exists within the Palisades. It's a shame that some greedy developers want to try and ruin it.