Contact
Parks and Recreation Classrooms and Maintenance
The Paducah Parks building located at 1400 H.C. Mathis Drive houses Parks and Recreation Department classrooms and maintenance personnel.
The Parks and Recreation offices are located in the Robert Cherry Civic Center located at 2701 Park Avenue.
The classroom and maintenance facility is located on 0.8 acres which used to be the West Kentucky Industrial College. The historical marker in front of the building reads:
Ground broken for this college on December 9, 1909 by Dennis H. Anderson, who had a determination to improve education for Negroes in Kentucky. Cornerstone for first building laid, 1911. Dr. Anderson failed to get bill passed in 1912 legislature to make school a state institution. It did become state-supported in 1918 and by 1938 had grown to become the third largest Negro junior college in the United States. Before it merged with Kentucky State, 1938, this college was served by Presidents D.H. Anderson, 1909-1937, and H.C. Russell, 1937-1938. A vocational school established in 1938. The following have served as its presidents: M.H. Griffin, 1938-1943; H.C. Russell, 1943-1947; M.J. Sleet (Acting Pres.), 1947-1948; C.L. Timberlake, 1948-1957; and H.C. Mathis since 1957. School has continued to meet the vocational needs of Kentuckians.
