Bowling Green city commissioners, along with heads of different city departments, held a special work session Thursday night at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Bowling Green, where updates were given to the public on many of the city’s ongoing projects, including Riverfront Park, the renovation of the historic Southern Queen hotel and changes to roadways in town.

Southern Queen

The Southern Queen, a hotel that operated in the Shake Rag area of Bowling Green for many years before falling into disrepair, is currently being renovated by Bell Vue Properties, owned by local real estate developer Desmond Bell.

The City of Bowling Green acquired the Southern Queen, along with two adjacent properties in 2021, with plans to revitalize the site. In 2022, commissioners voted unanimously to transfer ownership to Bell.

Speaking about the renovations during the session, Commissioner Melinda Hill said renovation work at nearby 136 State St. is complete and renovations at 533 East Second St. have begun. Hill stated these will be used as rental properties.

Hill said the Southern Queen is expected to reopen as a “boutique hotel” in 2025, complete with space downstairs for businesses, historic artifacts from the Shake Rag area and in the upstairs section and rooms available for overnight stays.

“Thanks to the City of Bowling Green and Mr. Desmond Bell, the Southern Queen will once again be open for current and future generations to enjoy,” Hill said.

Riverfront Park

Riverfront Park will transform a 71-acre area of Bowling Green along Barren River into what Neighborhood and Community Services Director Brent Childers described as an “outdoor adventure park.”

“We want to build this park where everybody says, ‘you gotta go to Bowling Green. You gotta see what they got,’ ” Childers said.

Construction work on the project has been broken into phases. Childers said construction work on phase one of the project will begin next year, which will include a new boat ramp into the river.

“We’re going to make it to where anybody can get down and touch the water and be part of that natural opportunity,” Childers said.

Operation PRIDE

Operation PRIDE, the beautification organization which has been behind the construction of black fencing and the “Welcome to Bowling Green” gateways along Interstate 65, will soon begin work on a similar gateway at the intersection of Kentucky Street and Sixth Avenue near downtown.

Like the gateways along I-65, this one will feature red lettering welcoming visitors to the city, sitting on a stone pedestal with flagpoles.

During the session, Melanie Lawrence, head of Operation PRIDE, compared this gateway and the existing ones along I-65 to front doors on houses.

“We hang wreaths on our front doors, we made them look pretty because we want to be welcome,” Lawrence said. “So that is our premise behind what we’re doing now.”

Operation PRIDE will also construct a gateway along Interstate 165, near the exit onto Morgantown Road.

Along with gateways, Lawrence said Operation PRIDE will also plant 325 flowering and evergreen trees along several city streets, including from Power Street to KY 185, to cut down on unpleasant odors coming from the river. Lawrence said Operation PRIDE was awarded nearly $150,000 for the project.

“While our river is wonderful, sometimes we get river smells that aren’t so pleasant,” she said.

Roundabouts

The traffic light at Victoria Street, Old Barren River Road and Veterans Memorial Highway is slated to be replaced by a roundabout, after the city was awarded a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete that project and other road improvements along a section of Veterans Memorial.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 Chief Engineer Joe Plunk said during the session the roundabout will help manage speed through the area and will improve safety of pedestrians trying to cross the street.

“They’re going pretty fast through your community, and that puts road users, pedestrians and bicyclists (at risk),” Plunk said.

Plunk said funding from the grant would expire in September 2026 if funds are not utilized, meaning residents of the area will “see things move quickly.”

“All of those funds have to be obligated, whether we’re buying some property, moving some utility poles or constructing,” Plunk said. “All of that money has to be at least obligated, if not completed, obligated under contract by that point.”