Student revamps Ky. town: Guthrie native works to improve hometown

By Sarah Wilder 

Fourteen years ago, the community of Guthrie was in decline and troubled by national attention following a race-related shooting.

Today, Guthrie native Matthew Bailey is helping to reverse that image. 

After the shooting in 1995, Guthrie gained national recognition, but not in a good light, Bailey said. Now, through a comprehensive proposal he created, there’s hope to make the city of Guthrie the busy town it once was.

When the city was looking for a plan to revitalize the declining town, Bailey, a graduate student in UK’s College of Design, submitted a proposal. His proposal was unanimously approved, and Bailey took on the task of redesigning Guthrie. 

Bailey said the first major project was to redesign some simple things to give the community a more professional air: He gave the city a new logo, typeface and Web site. 

After this, their next plan was to redesign the Guthrie Multi-Cultural Arts and Heritage Center, he said. This proposal was granted $600,000 by the Kentucky State Government and $300,000 from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet grant funds to begin work. The Guthrie Multi-Cultural Arts and Heritage Center will include a gallery space, theater, meeting rooms and curator’s office.

In 2008, Bailey, on behalf of UK, and the city of Guthrie partnered up to draw out a digitally-based comprehensive plan for the next 20 years. This is the first plan of its kind in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Bailey said. It allows for planning and zoning boards to access the information they need while planning the projects, and makes the process a lot easier for all those involved. 

Michael Speaks, dean of UK’s College of Design, has also helped by introducing scenario planning. This is a business model that will allow the community to make educated decisions on growth and the development of their communities, Bailey said. 

This comprehensive plan is greatly appreciated by the city of Guthrie, said Judge Executive Arthur Green. 

“It allows us to have identified county resources,” Green said. “We can analyze county growth and look toward land use to plan for the future.” 

Jason Scroggin, UK graduate and instructor in the School of Architecture, is also contributing to the plan by developing a park in downtown Guthrie.  

Mayor Scott Marshall said he believes that, through Bailey and his proposal, Guthrie could gain a different kind of perspective than other places have. 

“Matt brings a well-educated, youthful perspective to what we can do for downtown,” Marshall said. “It’s a win-win situation. Matt gains experience, and we gain his ideas in the proposal.”

The community will also start to bring in new businesses and population growth as a result of the decision by Dow Corning Corporation to build a new Hemlock silicon manufacturing facility, Bailey said. This facility will bring in many different “leach” industries of technology brands that are common on store shelves. 

This new facility will be much larger than the Toyota plant in Georgetown, which is currently the largest facility in Kentucky. It will provide the community with more than $257 million annually, Bailey said.

Bailey said he was enthusiastic about his proposal and feels honored about being selected. He said the College of Design allowed him to expand his professional design experience to “help a rural community realize their full potential.”

“To know that, despite what would typically be regarded as an impossible feat and unprofitable endeavor, UK had enough confidence in this project to entrust a student,” Bailey said. 

The comprehensive plan is currently underway, and Guthrie is racing to finish the project before construction starts on the Hemlock facility. The date set for completion of the project is June 2009.