Kentucky Dam’s Visitor Center couldn’t be reopening at a better time.
Closed for some of last summer due to site renovations, it’s back and in operation beginning this Saturday — and, yes, a limited supply of free eclipse sunglasses will be available for Monday’s premier event.
Despite its brief break, officials estimate nearly 30,000 people visited the hub in 2023 — or nearly 2,500 people per month.
Its walls are covered with factoids and videos about the region. To the left, a massive map of the entire Tennessee Valley Authority. Dead ahead: a window into a control room. To the right: an overlook where travelers can see fishermen and women hauling in lines of Asian carp, catfish and shad in front of the turbines and spill gates.
The folks who run it are volunteers, and retirees of the TVA.
Ralph Rose and his wife, Linda, live close by on Hwy. 95 near North Marshall Middle School. Ralph worked 34 years for the TVA — his first assignment coming in 1967 when they were installing Unit 3 at Paradise in Drakesboro — and he’s been at the Visitor’s Center since 2013, when they re-opened TVA locations back to the public following a September 11 freeze-out.
The duo noted they enjoy the job because they get to meet “all kinds of people with all kinds of questions,” but Ralph said he will always remember one key visit.
The duo also noted locals would be surprised who all comes through, and that locals are also sometimes surprised to learn a Visitor Center even exists.
Mike Rushing and his family are from Livingston County, and after 32 years with TVA, he’s in his second year with the volunteer option. He spends two weeks out of his summer to help with the facility’s visitors, and he and his wife found the training for it “very educational.”
A native of Graves County and laborer for Kentucky Dam, Tony Wright said eclipse-chasers won’t experience full totality there on Monday, but the Visitor’s Center remains a great place for the 2 PM viewing.
Located at 622 Kentucky Dam Road in Grand Rivers off of Hwy. 62, it’s east coming from Paducah and west coming from Clarksville, Tennessee. Hours of operation: 10 AM until 3 PM April through November, and 9 AM until 5 PM May through October.
