History unfolding: fundraising is vital for ag heritage center

Article featured in August 2008 issue of Kentucky Farm Bureau News
By Lindsey Coblentz

A sign along Highway 127 in Harrodsburg serves as a symbol of things to come for the Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center (KAHC).

The facility hopes “to create the environment where we can maintain the agricultural heritage of this state,” said Virginia Flanagan, the executive director of the project. “It is so much a part of who we are.”

The idea of an agriculture heritage center is not a new one, said Sam Moore, the past KFB president and vice chairperson of the KAHC board.

“We’ve talked about it for 25 to 30 years in Kentucky,” he said.

Today, the project is in the planning stages, with most of its focus geared toward fundraising. “We are just at the beginning of the activities,” Flanagan said.

The state legislature allotted a $10 million bond issue for the venture and Governor Steve Beshear last month presented a check for that plus an additional $1 million for a marketing study. The KAHC board plans to work with Global Advancement of Lexington to create a comprehensive campaign to collect private funds for the facility.

The board’s other priority is creating an enjoyable visitor experience, said Flanagan.

KAHC has hired Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets, Inc. (PGAV), designers of Bass Pro Shop and the St. Louis Science Center, to design the 300,000 square feet facility.

Future visitors to the center will be able to tour a museum featuring agriculture artifacts and interactive exhibits as well as a working farm.

Plans also include an auditorium, meeting facilities and a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.

The building itself will be unique because of its sustainable, or “green,” design. The structure, the first of its kind in Kentucky, will produce 100 percent of the energy required to power itself by using wind turbines and solar panels.

While it will initially cost more to build such a structure, KAHC will save money in the long run, said Flanagan. “Within seven years or so, we will recoup the additional cost. Plus, the money factor and sustainability factor goes way, way down.”

Flanagan hopes the center’s use of renewable energy sources will inspire Kentucky farmers to utilize these resources to decrease their own energy costs. “If that (renewable energy) can work for us, it can do it particularly for agriculture.”

The KAHC board hopes to have parts of the facility open in time for the World Equestrian Games in 2010, but that date is tentative. For more information about the KAHC, visit www.kyagheritage.org or call (859) 733-0701.