The City of Hopkinsville, Division of Parks and Recreation, has been notified that DeBow Recreational Complex, located on North Drive at Thomas Street, will receive the 2010 Kentucky Recreation and Parks Society “Facility Award” at their annual conference and awards luncheon, Friday, November 19th, 2010, at Lake Barkley State Resort Park.

Originally developed in the 1970’s, with four youth baseball fields and a walking trail, and named North Drive Recreation Complex, this partially developed and, in recent years, underutilized 20 acre park was showing its age.  With the cooperation and assistance of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Planning Commission (now Community and Development Services), Christian Fiscal Court, and the City of Hopkinsville, it was redesigned and developed into a more diverse and functional, multi-use, community park.

Beginning in 2008, the City of Hopkinsville and Christian County Government started a massive effort, bringing in and grading hundreds of tons of soil to re-contour much of the property and allow for the construction of four, much-needed, full-size, soccer fields, plus a group picnic pavilion, a concessions/restroom facility, paved park entrances and exits, and paved parking areas.

In the spring of 2008, the local leadership class selected a community built playground as their class project – “Project Playground”.  Today, this playground is a local landmark and a source of community pride, which provides the children of Hopkinsville with an interesting, safe, exciting, and enjoyable place to play. 

In the fall of 2008, on land which had a walking trail, but was rolling, divided by a creek, poorly drained, and unusable for much else, Hopkinsville’s first disc golf course was constructed at the park. 

The redesigned park reopened to the public in the spring of 2009.  It has been renamed DeBow Recreational Complex, in honor of Mary DeBow and in memory of Pam DeBow, the first and last full-time Directors of the former Hopkinsville-Christian County Recreation Department, respectively.

Today, the disc golf course, community built playground, soccer fields, picnic pavilion, and restrooms are being well utilized and enjoyed by the citizens of Hopkinsville, providing our community with a wonderful, new recreational amenity.  The redesign and development of this park is an exemplary story of community vision, leadership, and cooperation – an example of wise public investment, positive transformation, and improved utilization of existing park lands.