28 Business View Magazine - May 2016
or anything else. All of our elections, all of our office
holders, are non-partisan. I can’t even tell you what
party my commissioners belong to. And when we look
around the country, with all this fussing and fighting
that goes on, not only in Washington, but even in state
capitals, it’s a wonder they get anything done. Our peo-
ple on our commission are concerned about one thing:
what’s in the best interest of the City of Owensboro,
not their political careers.”
Once the city administration had its plans in place, and
there was a dedicated source of funding, the building
and spending commenced. “We spent $100 million of
government money to start all of the projects in our
downtown,” Payne says. And once the public monies
began to flow, the private dollars began to follow. “It
was not only the tax – the tax primed the pump. Af-
ter that, a lot of it was the private sector. The entre-
preneurs we have in this community are fabulous and
they continue to invest. I think by the time the summer
is over, that the private sector will have put in $200
million.”
The scope of Owensboro’s urban revival is truly impres-
sive. One major project has been the redevelopment of
a 1.4 mile stretch of the city’s Riverfront district. By the
summer of 2012, the city had created more than 15
acres of public, recreational space along the water’s
edge, including a five-block space that became Smoth-
ers Park – built on land reclaimed from the riverbank
during construction, and featuring playgrounds, foun-
tains, water features, and a veteran’s memorial.
“We just built a brand new convention center,” adds
Payne. “And we now have two hotels – one on ei-
ther side of it. We have a new, major office building,
