News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
10 newly restored cabins opened Tuesday at Standing Stone Park, concluding a $1.4 million dollar project.
There were state officials, state legislators and Overton county leaders in attendance to speak and tour the renovated cabins. Standing Stone Park Manager Chris Cole spoke to what this investment means for the people who make the park their vacation destination.
“You know I think that this will help park visitors coming here for many years, really come to the park and stay in a cabin,” Cole said. “It will create memories that will last a lifetime for them.”
These cabins were originally built during a Works Progress Administration project in an effort to build a culture of taking park vacations. Livingston Mayor Curtis Hayes said that Standing Stone might be in Hilham, but today’s culture of visiting parks, pays off for his city.
“Although it’s not in the city of Livingston, the sales tax dollars that it brings in because you have to go through Livingston or another city in the Upper Cumberland,” Hayes said. “If you stop and get gas and you stop and get groceries, if you come to town to play golf, if you visit Dale Hollow Lake, they will be spending dollars.”
Hayes said he could not help but notice that people currently staying in the cabins were from across the United States. Hayes said having the state invest in his “backyard” will give exposure to Overton County as a whole.
“Just a home run here today, as far as tourism, sometimes we forget about what’s in our backyard,” Hayes said. “So we have folks, as I was walking down to this cabin, cars out of Indiana, cars out of Alabama, cars out of Kentucky, cars out of Michigan and the cabins are full.”
Park Manager Chris Cole said the cabins have redone kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. Also, Cole said maybe the most important is the redone electrical wiring and heating and air conditioning.
