Recent entries into Kentucky’s e-Clearinghouse state-level review system paint a picture of potential regional developments within the Pennyrile.
Officials with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System have submitted a project that will require $20 million in federal funding and more than $8.3 million from the applicant, in which a new Skilled Trades Building at Hopkinsville Community College could “fulfill a critical regional need.”
The goal, if approved, would be to build a dedicated, state-of-the-art hub for electrical, HVAC, plumbing and construction programming.
Currently, these trades — deemed essential to the region — are dispersed across various campus locations, and in spaces not originally designed for “modern technical instruction.”
Centralizing them into one “high-performance facility,” officials noted, would foster a “collaborative environment, where students can engage in cross-disciplinary training for the region’s workforce,” while directly supporting local industry growth and providing students with a clear pathway to “high-demand, high-wage careers.”
Speaking of career development, officials with the Muhlenberg County Fiscal Court have submitted a project that will require more than $16.6 million in federal funding and more than $4.1 million in state funding, in which a renovation of the former South Muhlenberg Middle School, located at 200 Pritchett Drive in Greenville, could become an expanded West Kentucky Regional Technical Training Center.
If approved, a preliminary engineering report from PFGW — prepared January 26 — confirms a need to replace the property’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, fire protection and special systems for modern instruction.
The plan is to increase training capacity in advanced manufacturing, HVAC, welding, machine tool technology, as well as digital and 3D printing.
And, finally, officials with the Pennyrile Area Development District are seeking more than $2 million for a proposed “Water System and Storage Tank Improvement” project that would replace a glass-lined standpipe in Lyon County’s Lamasco community, as well as the 100,000 gallon elevated Jack Thomason Tank, the Tinsley Creek subdivision and a waterline near Lake Barkley, and a creek crossing near KY 274.
Water pressure, water quality, dead end lines and improved flow are all key reasons for the project.
