The 2nd meeting of the Subcommittee to Study Establishment of a Farm Museum of the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources was held on Wednesday, November 13, 2002, at 10:00 AM, in Room 149 of the Capitol Annex. Senator Vernie McGaha, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Vernie McGaha, Co-Chair; Representative Roger Thomas, Co-Chair; Senator Joey Pendleton; Representatives James Bruce, Dwight Butler, Mike Cherry, Thomas McKee, Marie Rader, Dottie Sims, and Tommy Turner.
Guests: Sean M. Cutter, McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie, and Kirkland; Ken Franks; Gary West, Bowling Green Visitors Bureau; and Debby Spencer, West Kentucky Corporation.
LRC Staff: Biff Baker, Jack Jones, DeVon Hankins, and Kelly Blevins.
Chairman McGaha opened the meeting by introducing and welcoming DeVon Hankins, new Committee Analyst for Agriculture and Natural Resources. Chairman McGaha then requested that LRC staff review the information prepared for the members as requested from the October 9 meeting. Staff gave the members a brief overview of the six agricultural museums profiled, and an overview of the potential public and private sources of funding that may be available for a museum. This information is on file in the LRC Library.
Chairman McGaha then opened the floor to the members for questions or comments on this information. Representative Thomas pointed out the importance of establishing a museum that would be easily accessible to out-of-state visitors. He emphasized how critical a good location was for such a project.
Representative Butler asked if any information was found regarding recently opened agricultural museums and whether a determination could be made regarding their success or failure. Staff replied that museums established in recent years have not yet had time to determine whether they could be considered successful.
Representative McKee pointed out the importance of reviewing those museums that had been recently established.
Representative Cherry suggested that the committee consider reviewing existing tourist attractions such as the Kentucky Horse Park, and the possibility of building an agricultural museum at one of those existing locations.
Chairman McGaha then turned the meeting over to Representative Thomas who introduced Gary West, Director of the Warren County Tourism Commission, and Debby Spencer, Vice President of the West Kentucky Corporation. Mr. West presented the committee with a proposal to establish an agricultural museum in the Bowling Green area. Mr. West proposed that Kentucky should establish an agricultural museum that is world class and could serve as a stand-alone facility in a major agricultural area. He stated that there is a site available in Warren County that is easily accessible to I-65 and is within close proximity to other tourist attractions such as Mammoth Cave National Park, Beech Bend Park, and the Corvette Museum. Mr. West also pointed out that the Warren County Tourism Commission was committed to providing the necessary funds to market an agricultural museum if a museum was located in their area. Mr. West suggested that agriculture corporations such as Massey-Ferguson and John Deere could partner with an agricultural museum to sponsor exhibits and other agriculturally related programs. As a final note, Mr. West added that the Warren County Judge was willing to donate some infrastructure and estimated that if done properly, an agricultural museum would cost $15-20 million.
Representative Cherry inquired if the University of Kentucky might have land that could be used for an agricultural museum.
David Sparrow, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, responded that the university will be presenting proposals to establish an agricultural museum at either its Princeton or Woodford County farm sites.
Representative Thomas reiterated that an agricultural museum be viewed as an agritourism project and the importance that it be a stand-alone facility with a possible emphasis on tobacco farming.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.