10
Business View Magazine
coming from the project is used to finance it. The con-
sultants from the state estimated that this project,
over the next twenty years, will generate $158 million.
We’re looking at building a road out there that will con-
nect that area to the hospital area. We’re also looking
at building a new sports arena out there for the NHL
Hockey team that just moved out of Evansville, over
here.”
In order to increase access to the new Owensboro,
Payne says the city worked with the state and federal
governments to help link it up with the Interstate High-
way system. “We’ve got a parkway that comes here
that we’re going to put on the Interstate system - a
part of I65,” he says. “We’ve got another parkway that
goes west that will hook up with I69, and that will also
become an interstate spur. I’ve always said it’s critical
that we get on the Interstate system, and now, it looks
like we’re going to do that.”
All of the new construction and redevelopment in Ow-
ensboro has only added to the city’s existing ameni-
ties, which includes a vibrant arts community. “We
have the Owensboro Symphony. We’ve got a Perform-
ing Arts Center; it’s beautiful and right on the river,”
says Payne. “We have a Fine Arts Museum; we’ve got
a Science Museum. The arts are very important to
me. About a year or so ago, I started a program to put
sculptures throughout our downtown. We invited art-
ists to come in and present their materials to us and
we gave the community an opportunity to select piec-
es. The artists had agreed to rent their art to the city at
the price of $2,500 a year, for two years. If we like it,
or a business likes it, we have an opportunity to buy it;
otherwise, we change it out. Most of it’s been bought.”
