UPDATE, March 6: The Lebanon City Council "voted unanimously to rescind all previous action on the Bible Park," J.R. Lind reports.
As arrangements for the proposed Bible Park USA near Lebanon, Tenn., bog down and head for a decisive vote, The Lebanon Democrat reports that Simpson County, Kentucky, on the states' border and Interstate 65, might be an alternative location.
"An official with the commonwealth's Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet told The Lebanon Democrat last week that state officials had met with Bible Park backers, but there were no offers or incentives on the table. Former Mayor Don Fox has repeatedly insisted that high-level Kentucky officials have been working to lure the park to the Bluegrass State," J.R. Lind reports.
Simpson County Judge-Executive Jim Henderson "said he had 'a lot of conversation' with park representatives, but that those meetings never became public and that he has had only 'cursory' discussions since the park tapped Lebanon as its home last fall," Lind writes. Henderson told him, "I believed they were willing to build a first-class project and as long as that were still the issue, I'd be happy to have them here." Henderson said those discussions had not been made public. "Our community as a community never knew," he said. "We were very careful about that." (Read more)
Lebanon and the Wilson County Commission plan to use bonds backed by tax-increment financing and a 5 percent privilege tax to support location of the park, on Interstate 40 east of Nashville. In December, the plan fell one vote short of commisison approval. Last month, a foe of the idea filed an ethics complaint against the commission over the issue. The developer, Entertainment Development Group, offered last week to "fund an economic study if that's what it takes to get bonding," Lind reported. (Read more)
And as long as we're giving you lots of links to Lebanon Democrat stories, here's one to a story about the paper's redesign.
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