Eastern Kentucky park to become wildlife tourism attraction

PINEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An empty Eastern Kentucky industrial park will be transformed into a wildlife center that officials hope will become a key tourism attraction.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the Pine Mountain Regional Industrial Development Authority has agreed to sell 750 acres in Bell County to the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation for $750,000.

Mike Bowling, a Middlesboro attorney who chairs the authority, says the land will be developed into a campus that would include a conservation center, a theater and an astronomy pavilion.

The authority purchased the land in 2001 from a mining company and spent years trying to attract an industrial factory to take root there.

The foundation hopes to open in 2018 and projects 600,000 visitors will come in 2021 to see the site’s elk, black bears and other wildlife.