Whitley County is part of the Cumberland River Area Development District (CRADD) and is associated with the Daniel Boone Tourism Region which supports selective project planning. The US Forest Service’s Daniel Boone National Forest covers the western half of Whitley County, and Williamsburg, the county seat, is located near other recreational resources such as the National Park Service’s Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and the Kentucky State Parks’ Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Whitley County’s population from the 2010 Census was near its historical high with around 35,600 people. Traditionally, the county’s economy has been dependent on natural resource harvest (timber) and extraction (coal) due to its advantageous geographical location within the Cumberland Mountains and along the Cumberland River which flows through Williamsburg. This waterway provides transportation access through the vast Cumberland River watershed which eventually flows into the Ohio River.

In Fall 2018, University of Kentucky, Department of Landscape Architecture (UKLA) students enrolled in LA 324, partnered on a project with Why Whitley, a group of concerned volunteers represented by local leaders and residents who live and/or work in Whitley County. Why Whitley once again envisions revitalizing downtown Williamsburg to become the heart of their community. The community is a partner in the Promise Zone Downtown Revitalization program which was awarded an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative grant (2017-2019) to address economic development needs in distressed communities in the Appalachian Region of southeast Kentucky. 

During a 15-week period, UKLA students researched, analyzed, planned, designed, and presented service-learning design proposals focused on Williamsburg. The students also formally assessed engagement techniques and organized and facilitated a design workshop with stakeholders from Williamsburg during the information gathering process. Based on research and community voices, UKLA supported and complemented Why Whitley’s revitalization efforts to enhance Williamsburg’s built environment and quality of life. Students developed and presented four proposals which included a city-wide conceptual plan with focus area designs to Why Whitley members, professionals, and Williamsburg community stakeholders. Their proposals addressed small to large-scale and short to long-term goals and objectives such as ways to enhance streetscapes, improve river access, and increase social gathering opportunities near the downtown as part of a strong network of corridors in and around Williamsburg and Whitley County. In the short-term, the outcomes from this service-learning project will be utilized for applications for mini-grants from the Promise Zone Downtown Revitalization program along with future implementation of the public space design projects in town and the county. In the long-term, the UKLA design proposals will help support downtown revitalization and further community engagement efforts to enhance Williamsburg’s built environment. UKLA deliverables have the potential to further support the development of physical planning and design projects that expand and/or connect with the regional revitalization vision.