Perry County Breaks Ground on Paul E. Hall Multipurpose Complex

When the next flood hits Perry County, the new Paul E. Hall Multipurpose Complex is designed to be ready: FEMA hookups pre-wired, showers available for first responders, and emergency trailer connections built into the structure from the start.

UK Cooperative Extension Service gathered March 31 to announce the building's purpose and officially dedicate it to Paul E. Hall, a long-time board member and former executive director of the Kentucky River Area Development District. The complex, now under active construction in Perry County, is built to serve dual roles: a functioning community education and workforce hub on ordinary days and an emergency operations facility when the next disaster demands it.

The emergency preparedness design drew pointed remarks from organizers at the announcement. "God forbid that we never need it again, but it'd be able to house first responders and have showers and things in," one official said. "It's got hookups. FEMA can pull trailers in here and hook up to it and use it. So, we kind of thought outside the box, you know, thinking ahead, if we ever have this again, what do we need?"

The facility's centerpiece is a state-of-the-art teaching demonstration kitchen that Extension staff will use to teach healthy food preparation, address nutrition-related disease, and reduce food insecurity in Perry County through hands-on classes and public programming. The kitchen signals a continuing effort to connect local food access directly to public health outcomes in a region where chronic illness and food insecurity remain persistent problems.

Beyond the kitchen, the complex will house space for community meetings, workforce training, and economic development programming. Organizers said outreach to schools, community organizations, and public health partners is planned to make sure the facility's schedule aligns with what Perry County residents actually need.

The naming honors Hall's decades of service building regional planning and development capacity through KRADD, the agency that coordinates infrastructure, community services, and economic programs across Perry and seven neighboring counties in eastern Kentucky.

No cost figures, contractor awards, or construction timelines were released at the March 31 groundbreaking. Officials said they will disclose additional details, including ribbon-cutting dates and program schedules, as construction milestones are reached.