Kentucky Horse Park Proposed Road Improvements
Posted by Jennifer Karlen on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 9:02pm.
It was reported in The Courier-Journal newspaper, that the Kentucky
General Assembly is making efforts to ready the Kentucky Horse Park for
the 2010 FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games, by making substantial road
improvements to accommodate the tremendous number of visitors expected
to attend the 16 day event.
On the table presently, is lobbying of political officials for $10.3 million to improve the roadways for ingress and eggress to the event.
And, I must say - it is much needed.
The Ky Horse Park is located just northwest of Lexington Kentucky, and incorporates the previous Walnut Hall stud standardbred farm into its facility. And, a substantial portion of the old roadways used to service the original horse farms - are the exact same roadways that is currently being utilized today. The original roadways are as old as dating all the way back to the 1800s. And are wholly inferior to what needs to be there to service this world class horse facility. 800,000 persons are projected to be in attendance for the 16 day World Equestrian Games event, and there needs to be adequate ability for visitors to enjoy their stay in Kentucky while attending this event.
Construction time tables are in a bit of a crunch. They really can’t wait until 2010 for these improvements. They need to begin NOW.
The construction off site of the KY horse park, coincides with many improvements and construction projects located within the Kentucky horse park. There is currently $29 million allocated for an outdoor arena, as well as a 21,000 sq.ft. of additional space for exhibitors. Plans calls for an artificial surface top coat for the arena similar to what is currently being utilized by many horse racetracks across the USA and in other parts of the world. One of the contending brands vying for the honor is Polytrack. Their surface is currently being used by the Lexington KY Keeneland Race Course. The final selection of whatever surface is deemed as appropriate will be made by the equestrian discipline managers and the architect that are in charge of the design and schematics for the facility.