PADUCAH, Ky. (WSIL) -- City leaders in Paducah now have a visible picture of what their future riverboat dock project should look like.
That project received more than $10 million in grant funding late last year and it's expected to increase and improve access to the city's downtown.
"This area that we're standing right now, this will be a new boat dock for our river cruises," explains Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless. With more than 30 riverboat cruises docking in Paducah each summer already, she says the river-front project will only make it more inviting to grow that number.
"So we have a big opportunity here to leverage hundreds and hundreds of passengers who get off those boats, who go into our city, and spend their money," says Harless, "And that's what we want to happen."
Paducah was born as a river city, with its river roots reaching back long before it was officially incorporated in the early 1800s. Harless says while the city enjoys riverboats visiting, they also want riverboats launching from their docks as Paducah becomes their homeport.
"What that means is we see people drive to Paducah the night before, or two nights before, spend the night in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop at our stores, for multiple days.
The project is estimated to take between five to six years to complete, with the mayor hopeful they can get started in the next two years.
"Anytime you have these kinds of projects you've got to be flexible, there's no doubt about that," says Harless. "We're talking about environmental concerns, the waterways have to be included, the Army Corps of Engineers; there's a lot of people that have to come to the table to make this happen."
She says the river industry is one of the largest industries in the city, which they don't take for granted.
"So at anytime we can, we want to honor the river, celebrate it, but also my goal is to see more people utilize it," says Harless. "We want to see how we can get people out on kayaks, out on canoes, see our passengers come from our riverboat cruises, so we can continue to utilize that river for the good of our community."
Paducah is still in the process of redeveloping much of its riverfront next to where the new dock will be built, and the goal is to have both projects completed around the same time by 2026.
