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Wilmore’s future, Quaint or Bustling?

By Jeff “Mario” Smith, Guerilla Reporter

November 10, In the Year of our Lord 2006

Wilmore Kentucky is a quaint historic community in Jessamine County, a charming neighbor to the overdeveloped Fayette County, or Lexington, KY, a diamond in the rough. Will this quiet little community be able to keep its charm and unique personality, or will its leaders follow the carrot before their noses, namely money, and sell out Wilmore’s future to developers?

The Wilmore City Council has already declared its intent to annex the proposed golf course property into the city limits, so it appears the writing is on the wall. The planning commission decision seems merely to place the heavy burden of decision on the council. This is a situation often repeated in communities all across America, but this time a precious jewel is at stake.

Nicholasville, right next door, is nowhere near the diamond that is Wilmore and has recently become the typical Anytown, USA with its high speed bypass replete with chain restaurants and the cheap Chinese-product-hawking WalMart.

Proposed, and recently rejected by the Jessamine County-Wilmore Joint Planning Commission by a vote of 6-0, is a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course with accompanying luxury subdivision. The increased traffic associated with “golfing destinations” and proposed future tournaments at a golf course of this caliber will change Wilmore forever, not to mention the sudden population increase. Will there eventually be chain restaurants and hotels? Will Wilmore become just another small version of Anytown, USA?

According to the Wilmore website, the town “is surrounded by beautiful natural scenery on territory settled in 1779 by Revolutionary Soldiers from Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It's situated near the Big Bend of the Kentucky River and the breathtaking limestone formations of the Kentucky Palisades.” Being an avid motorcyclist, I can attest to the beauty of the Wilmore area personally. High Bridge, just outside Wilmore, is a popular rider destination. My wife and I have considered looking at property in Wilmore as a potential retirement location. One certainly can’t get any peace in Lexington.

Other than the Asbury College and Theological Seminary, established by Bishop Francis Asbury (Bethel Academy, 1790), Wilmore is agricultural in nature and could be considered one of Kentucky’s jewels. It is a community where you can still find businesses closed on the Sabbath so all can dedicate that day to the Lord. Churches number at least ten in this tiny community with the first one, Wilmore Presbyterian, dating back to 1884. One can still find worshipers walking to church with Bible in hand every Sunday in Wilmore.

Wilmore’s Main Street, featuring architecture dating to the 1890s, is reminiscent of days gone by and evokes feelings of peace, harmony, and small town America. Progress is often revered in our society with towns and cities competing to have the largest tax bases and be the greatest “service” providers. It remains to be seen whether or not Wilmore has the chutzpah to stand up and say no to overdevelopment which will inevitably bring the destruction of its unique and refreshing personality. Let’s hope we don’t lose yet another diamond in the rough, a real jewel.

Sources: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15976255.htm  /  www.wilmore.org

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