Madisonville Mayor Kevin Cotton and Deputy City Administrator Brad Long appeared on WHOP recently to spotlight the city’s recent economic developments and upcoming events.
Cotton says Madisonville is seeing more growth now than it has in decades. In the city, Starbucks opened in September 2024 and 7 Brew Coffee opened in March. Cotton says a Zaxbys location is set to open in November.
In March, state and local government officials welcomed the first basic training class to the newly established Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Facility, and Cotton says the facility’s second recruitment class is currently undergoing training.
The facility is temporarily housed in a building provided by the Madisonville Police Department. Cotton says they are getting ready to sign off on a deed so that construction can begin. The facility is set to open in a couple of years.
Construction is underway on Energy Center I Power Plant which is set to have a generation capacity of 75 megawatts. City officials and members of the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency hosted the groundbreaking ceremony in April and it’s set to be operational by summer 2027.
Further concerning law enforcement, Cotton shared that construction has begun on a new Hopkins County Sheriff’s Department facility which is set to be located near the West Kentucky Archery Complex.
While multiple developments are in progress, the city is also preparing for a variety of events starting this weekend with the inaugural Madisonville Salutes to celebrate local active-duty military members, veterans and first responders. On Saturday, Cotton says the opening ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at Madisonville City Park. At the park a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall and a World War II monument will be on display.
The event will also include food and retail vendors, a car show, activities for children, live music from the 101st Rock Band and then the night will conclude with a fireworks show.
Then not too long later, Harvest Fest will be taking over Mahr Park Arboretum on September 26 and September 27 which also marks the beginning of the Hay Bale Trail. Long says around 670,000 people visited Mahr Park last year and many of those people were attending Harvest Fest. He says the festival will include hay rides, live music, food and retail vendors and agriculture displays.
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