Snow no obstacle for Corbin Arena’s debut

The makings of a memorable Christmas were all in place last Thursday for the first concert at the David L. Williams Agriculture and Expo Center, but in reality, it was only approaching mid-March on the calendar.

The weather was indeed frightful, with the Tri-County taking on upward of three inches of snow in some areas, as concert goers lined up to officially unwrap the $25 million, 7,000 seat facility to see the first act in the history of the building, country duo and Kentucky natives, Montgomery Gentry.

Montgomery Gentry emerge from a cloud of smoke and lights to take the stage during opening night of The Arena at the David Williams Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center last Thursday.

“We are so excited about opening this new arena,” Eddie Montgomery shouted from the stage. “Hopefully, we can make this an annual event and come back here every year.”

Those opinions were echoed throughout the evening by those in attendance, many of whom said they had been waiting a long time for a facility like this in their community.

Barbourville resident Albert Bennett and his wife said they were among the first to purchase tickets when they heard who the opening act was going to be. The fact they were able to be in the arena for the first show was an added bonus.

“We have seen these guys several times in concert,” Bennett said. “We had been wanting to see them again and when they announced they were coming here, we just couldn’t resist.

“This is a really great place to watch a show as well,” Bennett added. “Once they get a few shows under their belt and work out some kinks that go with this type of event, it will be a premiere place to watch a concert.”

Corbin’s Becky Parker said after all the hoopla and politics that have surrounded the arena, she was just ready to hear some music and take a look at the facility.

“You always hear good things and bad things when it comes to a project like this, but I just wanted to hear some music,” Parker said. “They worked hard to get this place done and I think everyone should just be grateful that we have a place like this now to see these kind of shows.

“I think it’s going to be a big plus for our community,” she added.

Former Corbin mayor Scotty Williamson made the trek south from Lexington to see the inaugural show

“In August of 1999, Bill Ed Cannon, Bob Mitchell, Senator David L. Williams and myself sat down and dreamed this project up,” Williamson said. “Of course the Tech Center came first, but this was the final phase of that project and it has been right 10 years.

“Just to sit here in this facility and see how it turned out and watch the crowd file in, I am very proud of what they have done,” he added. “I told someone the other day how shocked I am that it turned out the way we initially planned it because it’s rare that something is completed the way you think it up.”

Current Mayor Willard McBurney was also on hand for the event, and after a long wait, he admitted that the opening of the Arena took a lot of pressure off him and the City Commissioners. McBurney said it was nice to finally sit back and enjoy the show.

“We have really been under the gun for about 18 months now, so it was finally nice to get things going,” he said. “I was really kind of nervous about the proposed opening date, because I felt like March 12 was a little premature, but it turned out well.

“We had actually sat down and talked about what we would do if certain situations were to come about on the opening night,” he added. “Mother Nature really threw everything she had at us in the form of snow, but we really worked together with the county and I feel like we had a really good relationship as far as taking care of the situation.”