Months after the rest stop building on southbound Interstate 65 near Horse Cave was destroyed by a suspected electrical fire, plans are in place to get the facility at least partially reopened by the end of the summer.

“We’re looking to get it done as quickly as possible,” said Chris Jessie, public information officer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in Elizabethtown.

The plan to reopen the facility is being welcomed by area tourism officials, who said they have been missing out on one of the primary means they have to promote tourism to travelers.

State officials have been deliberating for several months on how to reopen the rest stop, which has been completely closed since a fire Jan. 12 destroyed much of the rest stop building.

One option considered was to simply open the parking area. 

“If you open up in any capacity, you have to be staffed … so we ultimately decided against just parking,” Jessie said. 

Instead, mobile bathroom facilities will be brought in to serve the rest stop as demolition of the burned portion of the building and reconstruction takes place. The rest stop will be staffed around the clock.

Insurance will pay for the roughly $500,000 cost to demolish and remove the burned portions of the building, with some left over for reconstruction. But that second phase of the project remains in the planning process. Current estimates are that demolition will start in late summer and the reconstruction – which could take six to nine months – to begin around December or January.

The state Finance Cabinet originally wanted to rebuild the current building exactly, using the same blueprints, but “there are some major changes that need to take place,” Jessie said. 

With the opportunity to make changes to the building, the hope is to address issues like ADA compliance, family restrooms and energy efficient lighting, Jessie said. He said the state received comments every month about the lack of a family restroom at the rest stop.

But making those changes “puts a big question mark” on the ultimate price and timeline for the rebuilding project, he said.

The primary concerns about the closure of the rest area have come from truck drivers, who have to take mandatory rest breaks and who used the facility by the hundreds each day and night. The rest area was about halfway between Louisville and Nashville – “there are not that many places to stop,” Jessie said.

Another group that will be happy to see the rest area up and running is the Horse Cave/Hart County Tourist Commission, which is losing out on thousands of contacts monthly. 

The commission had an information desk, brochures and video displays promoting regional tourism at the rest area. About 30 percent of the more than one million visitors to the rest stop annually stopped at the commission’s desk to ask a question or pick up information, said Sandra Wilson, executive director of the Horse Cave/Hart County Tourism Commission.

“We do plan to have a presence there,” even if it is in a temporary structure, as soon as the rest stop reopens, Wilson said. 

While the rest stop has been closed, commission staff have been working at a Shepherdsville rest stop and at Mammoth Cave National Park “to try to make up for the losses of contact,” Wilson said, while also continuing to staff the northbound rest stop. “I think it’s critical for the region,” she said.

While there is no way to know how many tourist visits have been lost because of the rest stop’s closure, “we’re hoping the impact won’t be significant long-term,” Wilson said. However, “This year it’s especially sad not to be there,” as Mammoth Cave National Park celebrates the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, Wilson said.

— Follow city government reporter Wes Swietek on Twitter @BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.