Elizabethtown mayor touts continued growth after first year in office

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) - More hotels, restaurants and expansions all found their way to Elizabethtown in 2019.

It's a year that the city's new mayor Jeff Gregory is proud of.

"It's been a great year here in Elizabethtown in 2019 and we're hoping it continues to build in 2020," Gregory said.

Gregory, a former Kentucky State Police trooper, took the keys to the city as mayor in January of last year.

The city has continued its rapid growth under Gregory's administration. Just a quick drive through town and one will notice even more buildings going up.

Gregory attributes a lot of the success to his predecessors.

"The groundwork, the infrastructure in city government has been in place to be very successful," the mayor said. "I was lucky to come in in January and be able to build off that and work with that right away."

In 2019, some of Gregory's notable development projects include the new Mayor Edna B. Berger Freeman Lake Park Office, the new golf house at American Legion Park, renovations to city hall and a new public works building.

2020, Gregroy says, will follow suit.

On Tuesday, Kentucky State Police relocated into a much larger building in the city, and Saturday marks the grand opening of the Bluegrass Sportsplex.

"We have expansions that are going on in a lot of our industry that are really helping us with occupational tax money that helps us put money back in our community," Gregory said.

Year two for Gregory will see more development in the south end of the city, he says. There are already projects in the works.

Continued success is the goal, and the mayor feels the city has everything it needs to stay on that path.

"Whenever you can bring people to your community, other businesses want to locate there," he mentioned. "I think that's what they're seeing."