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By Linda Blackford
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A final economic development plan started by the state Chamber of Commerce and centered around a luxury resort in the Red River Gorge shows a wide-ranging approach to improving tourism and business in the four-county region of Powell, Lee, Menifee and Wolfe. But it also leaves plenty of questions about how it will all get done.
The centerpiece — a $135 million luxury resort with a spa, distillery, restaurant and $350-a-night, 180-room lodge — would sit on 890 acres just off the Slade exit of the Mountain Parkway. The Red River Economic Development group, which is spearheading the effort, has extended its option to buy the huge, arch-studded property from local developer Ian Teal through March. Now the hunt is on to find a resort developer, although former Chamber of Commerce President Dave Adkisson, who started the whole process, thinks it will come down to a group of local investors, who would then hire such a company.
The plan includes 10 cottages, up to 16 house sites on one acre each, and plenty of amenities expected at a 4.5 star resort, a designation higher than nearly anywhere in Kentucky, but slightly below places like the Greenbrier in West Virginia or the Blackberry Inn in Tennessee.
But “this is much more than a master plan for a destination resort,” said John Bucher, senior planner with Stantec, the national consultant hired to do the master plan. “We see here an opportunity … to build some sustainable economic development through tourism.”
The plan is centered around what they call “Five Big Ideas:” The resort itself, more tourism interest in towns around the Gorge, diverse attractions, regional trails and a region-wide marketing and branding strategy.
These include specifics like expanding and improving Natural Bridge State Park, creating a larger visitor’s center at the current rest stop at the Slade exit, including local outfitters, a science center and a shuttle system to cut down on parking in the Gorge; using Beattyville’s site on the Kentucky River to create more tourism, and expanding the Pine Ridge Industrial Park near Campton to include a larger satellite program of the Hazard Community and Technical College.
Another interesting idea is getting National Park designation for the Gorge geological area and the Clifty Wilderness. Bucher said the areas’ uses are already restricted by other designations, such as a National Historic Landmark, but making it a National Park would add both cachet and more funding for improvements.
Probably the best idea is adding and connecting the region’s many trails. For example, the new resort could be connected to the Slade rest area with a trail up to the Twin Bees rock formation, and another trail could lead directly to Natural Bridge. This could be done throughout the region, giving new attention to the Sheltowee Trace, the 319-mile trail through the Daniel Boone National Forest that traverses the Gorge then heads all the way down to Tennessee.
Powell County Judge Executive James Anderson started out lukewarm about the entire project, but says he is fully on board now.
With diversified tourism, entrepreneur incubators and alleged higher wages, “people have a chance to make a living,” he said. “We can keep our best and brightest moving forward.”
But the initial engine of all this change, the resort, still depends on a lot of ifs. The master plan has laid out a design of sustainable development, including LEED Gold certification, Dark Sky standards for better star-gazing, a 200 foot setback from cliffs and no construction on cliff lines.
The relatively high cost was set to make sure the resort didn’t compete with the local cabin rental industry, and higher-income tourists will expect a certain level of sustainability, organizers said. As Adkisson and other pointed out, Teal plans on developing the land regardless of what happens, and has made no promises on what kind of development it would be.
But because the RRED project will be turned over to private developers, there’s no guarantee that they would do sustainable building either. Also, a pandemic might not be the best time to get developers excited about projects with the word “destination” or “resort” in them.
Like good Chamber of Commerce folks, they’re looking for taxpayer help, namely getting breaks through a tax increment financing project, a state law created to redevelop blighted urban areas, but has been constantly rewritten by legislators to encompass whatever project they wish.
Adkisson said he thinks sustainable development could be written into local TIF requirements and then supported by local pressure.
Maybe. That kind of hope and a prayer attitude is what has kept some locals wary about the project as well. Kristen Wiley, director of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade and a member of the RRED Advisory Board, says that while she likes a lot about the plan, no one is talking about what an upscale resort could do about property values.
“There’s a real risk of rural gentrification,” Wiley said. “If people make 20 percent more at this resort, but if their housing costs go up by 300 percent, you haven’t helped them.”
A survey done by Red River Gorge United, which opposed the project, did a survey of 472 people in the area. About 70 percent opposed a large scale resort and residential community; there was more support for a restaurant, distillery or a new visitor center.
The whole idea of this Eastern Kentucky “gateway” project was first made public last October; the work has been slow and steady, despite a pandemic. The idea of a regional plan is better than basing everything on one resort that may or may not fly. There have been endless plans to save Eastern Kentucky; this one seems well-researched but it’s going to require a lot more work, coordination and money to get it done.
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