Various improvement projects discussed at special called meeting of Corbin Tourism Commission

French Broad River passenger car in downtown Corbin

In the coming weeks and months, the Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission will be exploring several options for transformative projects in the downtown Corbin area.

The commission met for a special called board meeting Monday afternoon, where Tourism Director Maggy Monhollen presented the board with a wish list of improvement projects. The list included:

• Replacement of concrete pad located on the backside of the train depot building (located on Depot Street), which currently serves as the base of operations for the Corbin Tourism Commission.

• Painting of the exterior of the depot building.

• Installation of a shade structure that would cover nearby Sanders Park.

• Restoration of the interior of the French Broad River passenger car, located next to the depot building.

• Installation of a new roof on the depot building.

Monhollen explained that the main purpose of Monday’s meeting was to present the board with this list of potential capital projects, and to begin a dialogue with board members about how the commission should move forward.

In terms of funding this “vision of growth,” Monhollen said that enough funds currently exist in a money market account managed by the commission to pay for most of the work, based on current projections. Depending on how quickly the commission decides to take action on each project, and the final timelines for completion of work, the hope is that these projects can be completed without having to dip into the commission’s general fund.

Currently, replacing the concrete pad at the depot building is projected to cost approximately $28,000. The painting of the exterior of the depot building is projected to cost between $12,000-22,000, depending on the scope of work to be done. The shade structure at Sanders Park has been projected to cost anywhere between $150,000-250,000, once again depending on the overall scope of the project.

The restoration of the French Broad River passenger car was by far the costliest of the proposed projects that were discussed at the meeting, being projected to cost anywhere between $400,000-500,000.

As for the work to the roof of the depot building, this particular project was projected to not be necessary for, hopefully, at least another 3-5 years. It was brought up and Monday’s meeting, however, in order to present board members with a complete picture of needs to be addressed in the foreseeable future.

After some discussion among the board members present at the meeting, it was ultimately decided that Monhollen should move forward with accepting bids for the concrete work and the paint on the outside of the depot building. The board also unanimously voted to move forward with the drafting of a request for proposal concerning the shade structure at Sanders Park.

It was agreed that all of these items would be revisited, and potentially voted on, during the next regular scheduled meeting of the Tourism Commission, which is scheduled to take place next week.

As for the restoration of the French Broad River, Monhollen said that she would like to eventually offer guests an interactive tour experience that would include them actually boarding the passenger car, but the board collectively agreed Monday that there were more pressing issues that should be addressed first. Still, a continued dialogue concerning the restoration project will continue until a finalized action plan can be agreed on.