Two western Kentucky sites are closer to joining the National Register of Historic Places. The Kentucky Heritage Council board approved all fifteen nominations today (Monday), including the Paducah City Hall and the Kentucky Hydroelectric Projectin Grand Rivers.
National Register Coordinator Marty Perry says the approvals now go to the National Park Service, which will take up to three months to make a decision. Paducah’s City Hall was built by prominent mid-century architect Edward Durell Stone in the 1960s. If the building is placed on the register, the city could apply for state tax credits to help fund an 18-million dollar renovation.
The Hydroelectric Project includes the 206-foot high Kentucky Dam and other nearby buildings. The Kentucky Hydroelectric Project was one of 25 projects constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to generate electrical power and improve navigation and control seasonal flooding of the river system of the region.
The board also passed the ‘LGBT Heritage of Kentucky’ effort, which Perry says is a groundbreaking study by University of Louisville professor Catherine Fosl. The historic context will be an extensive examination of an often hard to obtain part of Kentucky’s history.
