Back to Muhlenberg County: Park dedicated to Prine at Rochester Dam

Oct. 2—After his death in 2020, Muhlenberg County found a way to honor late singer-songwriter John Prine and his love for the area.

The county held a dedication Saturday for the new John Prine Memorial Park at Rochester Dam in Drakesboro.

Prine wrote about Muhlenberg County, Rochester Dam and several other western Kentucky areas in his 1971 song "Paradise."

Fiona Prine and Jody Whelan, Prine's wife and son, respectively, were in attendance at the dedication, along with other family members.

"This has surpassed my expectation," Fiona Prine said. "The amount of work that has been put into the park and the improvements and just the kindness of everybody in the community that came together to do this. It's blown me away."

Whelan said COVID-19 has limited the opportunities for large groups of people to celebrate his father since his passing, so Saturday's event was special.

"It feels amazing to know that this is always here, but just the day today, it's been really special," he said.

Fiona said that within 12 hours of meeting Prine, she had learned all about Muhlenberg County.

"It was a big part of who he was and it's lovely that there's something here now that we can come and visit to bring the kids and grandchildren and be here and think about him," she said. "We are very grateful for the gratitude of the community and having us here today."

C. Josh Givens, a member of the John Prine Memorial Park at Rochester Dam committee, said the dedication was the culmination of three projects that came together as one.

"Around 2018 to 2019, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources granted the Muhlenberg Fiscal Court $100,000 to redo the boat ramp," he said. "When they did that, the department asked fiscal court to construct a pavilion and improve parking."

Shortly after Prine's death, the community realized that fans were visiting the dam and leaving memorials in his honor.

"My friend Karen Lain called and asked if I knew of anyone that could work on getting the park renamed," Givens said. "I contacted Magistrate Darrin Benton and Magistrate Malcolm West and they were on board."

From that point it took about a year for everything to fall into place.

"The fiscal court was unanimously behind it and to date, what has been done on this property has been $160,000 and we've got big plans for the future," Givens said.

The county hopes to add an overlook to the dam with benches and trash cans.

"The ultimate goal is the overlook over the dam, something permanent, still structure, that will be here for decades to come," Givens said.

At its most recent meeting, the fiscal court established the the John Prine Memorial Park Foundation, which will work to achieve a 501(c)(3) status and raise $30,000 to $35,000 to complete the overlook.

"Once we get the 501(c)(3), we can begin accepting donations and all of the money will go to improve this park," Givens said.

Givens said the committee wanted to have the approval of the Prine family and Oh Boy Records, the label established by Prine in Nashville.

"There's been a lot of communication and we would not have done this without the blessing of the Prine family," he said. "Not only did we want to honor John's memory, legacy and contribution to American music, but we didn't want to overstep in some way and offend the family. As much as we were hurting as fans to lose John, they lost a father and a husband."