Both local governments Tuesday approved a memorandum of agreement with the Kentucky Department of Parks that allows for the next steps in the construction of a new conference center at John James Audubon State Park to occur.
Fiscal Court approved the measure by a 5-1 vote. The city commission, meanwhile, unanimously approved the MOA.
In it, the county will contribute $2.5 million and the city $2.7 million to construct what local officials hope for will be a 25,000 square foot facility.
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton said that in early discussions—which occurred as early as 2 ½ years ago—the conference center’s price was $15 million. Also a part of those talks was a local match that would have equaled $7.5 million—$3 million for the county and $4.5 million for the city, Staton said.
Now, the local match of $5.2 million total will bring a $16.4 million facility to town, said the mayor.
The increase in the total price is attributed to an entrance/exit road that will connect to Watson Lane—a $2.7 million addendum to the project, Staton said.
Before Fiscal Court voted on the memorandum of agreement Tuesday morning, magistrates heard from local officials who have worked on the project, including state Sen. Robby Mills and former Rep. Jonathan Dixon, both of whom helped secure funding for the project during the 2024 General Assembly.
In its 2024 budget, the Kentucky General Assembly approved $8.545 million for the project. Of that, $1.045 was included in the state budget to demolish the old beach house, which occurred recently. Additionally state funding includes $3.125 million in fiscal year 2025 and $4.375 million in fiscal year 2026 for the project. The $2.7 million access road was included in a different budget line item.
“This is an improvement in our community,” Mills told Fiscal Court. “This is something that will be in our community for years to come.”
The state senator said more money may be needed as the project nears completion, and he intends to fight for that to get the conference center finished.
Dixon said getting the money approved as a line item was “no small task in the state budget.”
Part of the reason for success was that legislators viewed it “not just a community project…but also a regional project,” Dixon said.
Indeed, Staton agreed with that assessment, saying three nearby county judge-executives and four mayors, including former Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, provided letters of support.
Andy Rideout, representing the Friends of Audubon, said interest in the project within the group spanned back some 15-20 years. He said the 150-plus members of the Friends are fully committed to support the project in any way possible, and the space would fill a large community need, including being a spot to host hundreds of students that come to Audubon State park every year.
Henderson Tourist Commission Executive Director Abby Dixon said that some of her colleagues who work in tourism statewide have asked why that conferences aren’t held in Henderson, what with everything else going on locally. A big conference center—that can hold 400 or so people—“is not something we have in Henderson,” she said she tells them.
She said a conference center here would able to host state and regional conferences—events in which 80% of attendees stay overnight and spend money, benefitting the local economy. Abby Dixon said a big picture take on having a conference center is that people who come for conferences and see what the community has to offer could return and do business here, perhaps even opening businesses later on.
One of the hoped-for plans locally has been for a ballroom that can hold 400-plus people with several connected rooms—breakout rooms—that attendees can enter into from the ballroom. Ultimately, though, the final plan will be up to state officials, said both Staton and Judge-Executive Brad Schneider.
The conference center is planned to be where the recently demolished bathhouse was formerly located next to the park’s scenic lake.
Staton said that he believes a groundbreaking can be held next year early next year, and once that occurs, the mayor said he estimates construction will take about two years.
One of the results that local officials are hoping for is that the new conference center, along with Deaconess Henderson SportPlex and the coming Rhythm River Distillery, will garner interest from hoteliers. Staton said that’s already the case. One hotelier has visited three times, most recently last week, the mayor said.
City officials are hoping to have a new hotel, and possibly two within a year, Staton said, adding hotel representatives are looking at land off Ky. 2084 near Palmer’s and a 31-acre city-owned tract off Barret Boulevard behind Owensboro Health.
Magistrate Tim Southard was the lone local elected official to vote against the memorandum of agreement. He raised concerns during the meeting that the conference center will benefit the city much more than the county, and the county wouldn’t get any return on the investment it makes.
