Johnny Webb’s dream of beautifying the entrances into Bowling Green just keeps getting bigger, and now it includes a third “gateway” sign and funding help from state government.

Webb, an entrepreneur and former Bowling Green mayor, announced at Tuesday’s meeting of the Operation PRIDE nonprofit he launched 31 years ago that the “BeautifI-65” project to spruce up the city’s Interstate 65 interchanges will now be extended to I-165 (formerly the Natcher Parkway).

A large “gateway” sign identical to those seen near I-65 exits 20 and 30 is in the works for the Morgantown Road interchange with I-165.

“Malcolm Cherry owns property at the interchange at Morgantown Road, and he’s giving us an easement for another gateway,” Webb said. “It will have a 130-foot-tall flagpole and an American flag that is 30 feet by 60 feet. It should all be done by this fall.”

That third gateway will take the Operation PRIDE (for Plant, Repair, Improve, Develop and Enjoy) project beyond Webb’s original vision, but that doesn’t surprise the man who was Operation PRIDE’s first executive director.

“This is typical of Johnny Webb,” said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Dan Cherry. “This may have seemed to most people like a pie-in-the-sky project, but he doesn’t see things that way.

“What we’ve done (with BeautifI-65) sets Bowling Green apart from other communities our size.”

Webb’s project to entice travelers off I-65 and make Bowling Green more attractive to tourists and even potential employers has grown to the point that help from the Kentucky General Assembly was needed.

Initiated by Sen. Mike Wilson and shepherded through the budget process by other members of Warren County’s legislative delegation, the state help comes in the form of a two-year, $602,800 grant from the Kentucky Department for Local Government.

“It will just be for ongoing maintenance for two years,” Webb said. “We’ve been receiving money from the city, the county and the convention and visitors bureau for maintenance.

“This will be in addition to that. With us taking on the I-165 gateway, we’ll need it. That’s an 11-mile stretch of road we’ll have to maintain.”

The state funding, while sizable, pales in comparison to the private money Webb has raised to pay for the BeautifI-65 project.

“I didn’t know how we would do it or how we’d find the money at first,” said Webb, founder of the Southern School Supply business and a newly minted member of the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame. “We’ve now raised over $7 million, and I’m still in fundraising mode.”

Sen. Wilson, who received Operation PRIDE’s Cherry Award on Tuesday for helping get the state funding, said all the money raised is going toward a worthwhile project.

“This makes you have a lot of pride in your hometown,” Wilson said. “I had a business owner tell me they had a customer see the (gateway) sign and decide to live here.”

State Rep. Kevin Jackson, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said he has heard similar comments about the BeautifI-65 project that won the Beautify the Bluegrass Governor’s Award in 2022.

“This is not only beautifying our community but can help economically as well,” Jackson said. “People do notice it. It’s one way to set ourselves apart.”