![]() ![]() “When you strip away coal, you’re left with what you have. ‘If someone had told me 10 years ago that I could come home and make a living, I’d have said, ‘Whaaaaat?’ The vast lobby has an art gallery, a coal mining museum with rotating exhibits and the Ranier Racing Museum (where NASCAR fans can visit the famous Gray Ghost, record-breaking winner of the 1980 Daytona 500 with Buddy Baker at the wheel).īut is an impressive arts center enough to bring new life to a post-coal economy?Įxecutive Director of Marketing Samantha West comes from a family of coal miners. With a sophisticated commercial recording studio and busy music lesson rooms, the MAC deepens traditional mountain music roots and looks forward to new generations of musicians on the largest stage east of the Mississippi.īut it’s not only music that MAC celebrates. Over the past 23 years, the 1,044-seat auditorium has welcomed performers like Loretta Lynn, Billy Ray Cyrus, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs and Chris Stapleton to its stage. Home to Billy Jean Osborne’s Kentucky Opry, the MAC is longstanding proof of Prestonsburg’s music roots. It was a good move to house the Pres- tonsburg Tourism Office in the Mountain Arts Center (MAC). It was clear from the beginning that Prestonsburg’s story is book-length, and worth knowing.Ĭourt Street provides a beautiful welcome to downtown Prestonsburg. Long version: a three-hour narrated driving tour that includes the renowned Mountain Arts Center…hiking, biking and equine trails…a Civil War battlefield…Jenny Wiley State Park and Amphitheater…an under-construction rails-to-trails path running from downtown to David, former model coal camp fallen on hard times.a professionally designed golf course and trails built on a reclaimed mountaintop removal mining site…a downtown filling with restaurants and small shops…a city park complete with indoor skating rink, pool, playground and a 1.25-million-Christmas-light display that draws 40,000 cars seasonally…a state-of-the-art Science Center housing a 40-foot domed planetarium… Short version: “We were definitely a coal economy. Paddle Fest takes place on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, and is held on the fourth Saturday of each month, May through September.Īsk Mayor Les Stapleton to share the story of Prestonsburg, Kentucky, and you’ll get a short version and a long version. ![]()
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