Here’s how $26 million will be used for job, infrastructure projects in Eastern Kentucky

Bill Estep
·3 min read

Tourism, training and infrastructure projects aimed at boosting the economy in Eastern Kentucky coal counties will receive more than $26 million.

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers and Gov. Andy Beshear announced the awards Wednesday at the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) conference in Corbin.

The projects are projected to create or retain 200 jobs and provide training for 240 people a year, according to a news release.

“Today we are taking another step forward in building that better Kentucky we all want — one where none of our kids and grandkids have to leave home to chase their dreams, because every opportunity they could want is right here,” Beshear said in the release.

Money for the projects comes through the federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program, which Rogers set up in 2016 in order to get money for economic development to areas hurt by a sharp downturn in the coal industry.

Coal jobs were up in Eastern Kentucky throughout last year and earlier this year but are still far below the number of jobs the industry had before a steep drop that started in 2012.

There were 2,918 people working in the coal industry in Eastern Kentucky in the second quarter of this year, compared to 13,511 in the second quarter of 2011, according to the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

Projects in Kentucky have been awarded nearly $200 million under the AMLER program since 2016, according to a news release.

“The AMLER program is generating innovation, job creation, boosting tourism and expanding access to health care and education in the mountains,” Rogers told people at the conference by video from Washington, D.C.

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet vets applications for money through the program and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining chooses the projects to fund.

The awards announced Wednesday were:

▪ $2.76 million to Pikeville Medical Center for job training and to build space for therapy services at the Appalachian Valley Autism Center satellite site in Floyd County.

▪ $2.5 million to the Baptist Health Corbin Foundation in Whitley County to begin construction of an updated emergency department and critical-care unit.

▪ $3.38 million to the city of Hazard for a project to increase water capacity at the Coalfields Regional Industrial Park and improve service in the Buckhorn area.

▪ $2 million to the McCreary County Water District for a sewer project benefiting 110 homes and the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

▪ $2 million to the Johnson County Fiscal Court to buy equipment for a manufacturing facility.

▪ $4.5 million to the East Kentucky Heritage Foundation Inc. for construction work on the Raven Rock Resort Lodge in Letcher County.

The historic coal town of Jenkins is visible from a high point on Pine Mountain called Raven Rock. There are plans to build a lodge near the city.
The historic coal town of Jenkins is visible from a high point on Pine Mountain called Raven Rock. There are plans to build a lodge near the city.

▪ $372,600 to the city of Jenkins to improve its wastewater treatment plant.

▪ $1.02 million to the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg for a new roof and other maintenance.

▪ $59,800 to the Elkhorn City Heritage Council to improve the Elkhorn City Railroad Museum.

▪ $500,000 to the Kent Rose Foundation to build a playground in Floyd County that will include playground equipment for kids with disabilities.

▪ $1.9 million for The Yard, a tourism project in Estill County, for construction of a pavilion and other work.

The nonprofit Kentucky Steam has a plan to develop 40 acres of former railroad property into a tourism and entertainment venue called “The Yard” in Irvine, Ky., Monday, November 2, 2020. Kentucky Steam has already purchased the land and is ready to start construction on the venue, with the sponsorship of Hardy Oil, that it hopes will lead the way for other endeavors to celebrate the regions railroad heritage.

▪ $3 million to the University of Pikeville College of Dental Medicine to buy equipment.

Funding under the program was announced earlier for two projects in Boyd County — $1.8 million to the Clark Family Discovery Center & Interactive History Museum to build museum space, and $1.3 million to Ashland Community and Technical College to create a simulation laboratory.