The Southern Queen Hotel's boiler sits in the pitch-black basement on Aug. 28, 2023. The City of Bowling Green will soon be launching a request for proposals to find developers that will restore the structure with respect to its history.

Bowling Green is no stranger to change — 2024 will be no exception. Locals have a number of projects and events to look forward to in the new year.

Riverfront park

Two designs were revealed in September for a planned riverfront park project that will hopefully begin construction sometime this summer, Director of Neighborhood and Community Services Brent Childers said then.

Childers told the Daily News last week that a final master plan for the project should be revealed early this year.

“That’ll lead us toward future budgets and how we’re going to go about phasing that project, to some capacity,” Childers said. “The master plan will be something that will kind of guide us for years to come on how we develop our budget and how we apply for grants.”

Childers said community input so far has shown excitement, with respondents prioritizing things like walking and biking trails, open space and natural surroundings.

One rendering presented by design firm MKSK, titled “Branchwork Green,” features a large oval lawn, a kayak launch point, interactive splash features, a dog park, a bouldering wall, an adventure bike trail and an elevated canopy pathway among the trees.

It would also include “The Terrace,” a stage pavilion and audience green space with a capacity of over 1,500, and room for food trucks and events.

The second, titled “Mussels on the Riverbend,” features a shell-shaped spiral mound made by digging out a pond in the heart of the park. It includes a smaller event lawn with pavilions, a boat ramp and kayak launch, a circular elevated tree walk, a pump track for bike riders, open space and soil mounds.

Childers said the final design will likely incorporate features from both concepts, taking public feedback into consideration.

Duncan Hines Days return

City Manager Jeff Meisel said Duncan Hines Days will return “bigger and better” after a successful inaugural event in June.

Named after Duncan Hines, the renowned local restaurant curator and namesake of the baking mix giant, the event brought roughly $2.28 million to the area’s economy in a week’s time, Downtown Development Coordinator Telia Butler said in June.

The event hosted a plethora of food, music and travel-related events that seek to highlight the benefits of Bowling Green living.

A total of 20 Duncan Hines Days-themed events took place in Bowling Green between June 5-11, and 28 area events in all were promoted. Twenty-seven restaurants and 50 community partners came together for the event and more than 20 sponsors raised $80,000-plus to cover the festivities.

The event’s partners estimated over 16,000 attendees came out for the festivities, with some hailing from as far as Idaho, California, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, Butler said previously.

Butler said then that the event laid the groundwork for more to come, even beyond Duncan Hines Days.

“Having this blueprint now, knowing that it can work and can be replicated and applied to other events that already exist and to potential events that we know are out there being discussed, is really big for our community,” Butler said.

Shake Rag revitalization

Bowling Green’s Shake Rag Historic District is in the midst of major change, including a new attraction at the old State Street High School gymnasium.

Derrick and Deserea Huff, owners of Traveler’s Cellar Winery in Rockfield, purchased the former gymnasium in 2023 with plans to open “The Mustang Club” — a retro-style speakeasy featuring live music and drinks with a wine bar serving brunch-style food on the second floor.

“(The speakeasy) will be decorated from the 1920s and ‘30s with the prohibition-era theme throughout the establishment,” Derrick Huff said. “It’ll have live music every weekend and also serve small plates of food down there, and there’s also rentable space as a venue.”

Derrick Huff said it’s a “large undertaking” and he is working with the Shake Rag community to highlight the area’s roots. He said local memorabilia and historic images will line the walls and much of the nearly 100-year-old building will be preserved.

The owners hope to finalize plans with their engineers and architects this month. He said contractors are “chomping at the bit — no pun intended” to start work on The Mustang Club.

“We estimate that if we can begin construction mid-January, which is the plan, that we’re hoping to open in June of 2024,” Derrick Huff said. “We’re really looking forward to it. It’s going to be an exciting experience.”

The Shake Rag Historic Walking Tour, which features plaques detailing notable figures, events and locations in the area, is also set to receive updates, Butler said.

The George Washington Carver Center has partnered with the city and Visit BGKY to make improvements to the trail and install new tour markers, funded through a City of BG Neighborhood Flex Improvement Grant.

More is soon to come in Shake Rag as the city continues to eye development proposals for the historic Southern Queen Hotel at 136 State St. and 533 E. 2nd Ave.

The hotel opened in 1906 and catered to Black travelers who could not utilize white-only accommodations due to segregation. The building eventually fell into disrepair until the city began restorative work in 2022.

Childers said in August that the city has invested about $60,000 in the building’s renovation and preservation, largely aimed at making the structure safe for occupancy.

The city accepted proposals between September and November from developers who sought to preserve and honor the building’s history but final plans have not yet been announced.

Emergency services improvements

Construction continues on Fire Station No. 8, located at the Kentucky Transpark, after breaking ground last April. Meisel said he hopes to see it in operation by April or May.

He added that the city is still waiting on additional trucks for the station but will utilize reserve trucks until their arrival.

The Northside Fire Station No. 5 replacement at 250 Porter Pike, which will also house rage city’s new law enforcement training facility, ran into roadblocks last year as sinkholes discovered during construction warranted changes to the initial design.

The karst landscape required the addition of a micropile foundation consisting of numerous concrete pillars drilled into the ground. Meisel said the project is roughly two to three weeks behind schedule, but warm winter weather could allow crews to make up for lost time.

“We’re not too concerned — they’re still hoping to have that done probably late spring of ‘25,” Meisel said. “That is probably one of the biggest projects we’ve done since we built the convention center many years ago.”

The city is also moving along on a project to construct a total of seven storm shelters across several local parks.

The Board of Commissioners approved last month a $235,000 Hazard Mitigation Grant award for the design of five storm shelters — two at Lovers Lane Soccer Complex, two at Preston Miller Park and one at Pedigo Park.

A total of seven shelters are planned across city parks, with two others at Hobson Grove Park and Lampkin Park pending grant approval.

Each shelter will have a capacity of roughly 360 and will include a bathroom, ventilation system and electrical hookups. They will also contain magnetic, remote-controlled locks that allow them to be opened only in emergencies.

Meisel said in December the first five should be complete by late summer or early fall of 2024.