Hopkinsville residents who offered their opinions on city government spending spoke about their support for art, history and youth programming, while also raising concerns about the condition of historic sites, the Westside neighborhood and a walking trail along Little River.
“I’d like for y’all to give me your thoughts and your comments, good, bad or indifferent, however you think they are, … because if they are not spoken we won’t know how you feel about it,” Mayor James R. Knight Jr. said Monday night at the start of a community budget forum.
Although none of the nine speakers at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center asked for a set allocation, they did cite several specific efforts they want the city to back with funding.
bell hooks Legacy Center
Gwenda Motley, representing the bell hooks Legacy Group, told Knight that she’s seeking the city’s support to establish a bell hooks Legacy Center in the historic Carnegie Library building downtown. Motley’s late sister, Gloria Jean Watkins, is best known by her pen name, bell hooks. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, the Watkins children were patrons of the Carnegie Library, which was then Hopkinsville’s public library.
“bell’s passing in 2021 put our little hometown on the map across the world,” said Watkins, a retired educator. “What better way to honor her and continue her legacy than to invite people from all over the world to visit Hopkinsville where bell hooks was born and raised.
“There is the Carnegie Center, look right out the window there on Liberty Street, just waiting to be restored and renamed the bell hooks Legacy Center.”
Watkins said family members have established a nonprofit to secure the legacy of bell hooks, and added that supporters of a center in the Carnegie building will be “reaching out worldwide for financial support.”
The bell hooks Legacy Center would house an artifact collection of bell hooks’ art, awards and writings for visitors while also serving as a place for youth and adult writing workshops, poetry readings and educational events, said Motley.
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Organizers hope that a grand opening for a center can be held on Sept. 25, 2027, which will be the 75th anniversary of Gloria Jean Watkins’ birth. (The Carnegie building is partially restored and has an event center in its lower level. The main space above has not been fully restored.)
Francene Gilmer, executive director of the Christian County Literacy Council, said the Carnegie building would serve as a “full circle” representation of bell hooks because it is the place where she developed her earliest skills as a reader and writer.
Westside neighborhood
Among other speakers, West Seventh Street resident Thelma Moore said the city needs to help with blight in her neighborhood.
Moore said she has lived in the Westside neighborhood since 1966, when her parents moved their family from the country into town. Years ago, the area had “the neatest little neighborhoods” with clean yards, she said.
“Now it is piled up with junk,” said Moore. “I don’t want to live next to a pile of junk.”
The mayor responded, “I don’t blame you.”
River Walk
Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins brought the condition of the River Walk. The wooded path is along Little River, from the public library to Westside Park. It was created before the development of the city’s rail-trail, which is on the opposite side of the river. Today, the River Walk is too dangerous for walkers because it is covered with fallen trees and soil that have piled up from dirt sliding toward the river.
“It has become very dangerous,” said Atkins. “I used to walk over there before the rail-trail was built … and it was quite pleasant.”
Another speaker at the budget forum, Markeeta Wilkerson, said her children use the River Walk to get from the library to the basketball court at Westside Park. She agreed it still has value and should be repaired.
Atkins said he spoke to Hopkinsville Public Works Director Mike Perry about the River Walk and added he understands it will be expensive to repair.
“It still has value, I think,” said Atkins. “It still has some use … and would be beneficial again.”
Additional requests
Other speakers at the budget forum, which lasted about 30 minutes, included Kiley Killebrew, Margaret Prim, and Jeri Lynn and John Richardson.
Killebrew, board chair for the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, spoke about “quality-of-life” initiatives.
Last year the museum provided 120 programs, hosted 7,150 guests, and accepted 500 artifacts into the collection, said Killebrew.
“As you all make the tough decisions during the budget season and consider these allocation requests, please keep in mind that our museum deserves attention,” she said. “It serves the community, your constituents, by educating our youth, building community connections and creating a sense of place for all who call Christian County home. You might even consider it essential funding.”
Prim, executive director of the Pennyroyal Arts Council, explained why she believes it is crucial for city government to partner with the arts council, which manages the Alhambra Theatre.
“It is awfully important for us to continue the tradition of this almost 100-year-old theater, the programming that comes along with that, and the partnerships and collaborations that we do with other folks in the community as well,” she said.
Prim said, “considerable revenue” comes to the city as a result of people who attend shows at the Alhambra.
Francene Gilmer also spoke about youth and cultural diversity. She helps put on a Juneteenth program every summer, which she stressed is open to the entire community.
“I want to just ask that consideration be given for cultural diversity, particularly Black history-type programs, and [to] expand some offerings for our youth,” said Gilmer.
Concerning the museum, Gilmer said, “The support given to that is so important, so vital … because we have a director (Alissa Keller) who puts her all into it and she garners people who have a great interest in making sure our history is preserved.”
Jeri Lynn Richardson, who resides at the Trice Castle on South Main Street, said she wants to see repairs made to an old retaining wall, made of huge stones, on South Virginia Street. She said she reviewed photos on Google maps to see how long the wall has been damaged.
“Boulders have been sitting on the sidewalk for nine years,” she said.
Her husband, John Richardson, asked about storm repairs to the old fire station, which houses the Woody Winfree Fire and Transportation Museum, and the Odd Fellows Building. Both are on East Ninth Street.
Knight said the city is working with insurance companies to get that work done.
The mayor and his staff are preparing a budget proposal that will be presented for Hopkinsville City Council’s consideration within several weeks. A new budget must be approved before the start of the next fiscal year on July 1. Two votes by city council are required to adopt a budget. Typically, the council votes on the budget during meetings from late May into June.
Hoptown Chronicle editor Jennifer P. Brown is a member of the bell hooks Legacy Group.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
