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On Monday Aug. 21, 2017, there will be a total solar eclipse. One of the best places to view the eclipse is in our own backyard in Hopkinsville. There will also be eclipse-watching events in Bowling Green.

New Visitors Center in Hopkinsville Part of High-Gear Preparation for Aug. 21 Solar Eclipse

Rhonda J Miller

Hopkinsville is continuing to gear up for this summer’s solar eclipse. The astronomical event on Aug. 21 is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors from around the globe to Christian County.

That’s because Hopkinsville is a point of longest duration of the total solar eclipse – two-minutes-and-40-seconds.

Cheryl Cook is executive director of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention and Visitors Bureau. She says preparation has been full-speed ahead with the mayor, governor, the National Guard and emergency management groups all playing a role.

But Cook says planners are still expecting the unexpected when it goes dark just after one o’clock in the afternoon on Aug. 21. 

“I mean we’ve done everything that we know to prepare for it. So is it going to be chaotic? Yes, but hopefully it’s going to be organized chaos. But if somebody doesn’t know what’s going on, they’ll think the world’s coming to an end or something.”

Cook launched the city’s eclipse information 10 years ago when she got an email asking if she’d started planning yet. She says an Internet search set her in motion.

“I realized what a big deal this was, and how we fit into the whole coast-to-coast eclipse. Right after that I put an eclipse countdown clock on the website. That’s the first thing I did.”

The city has developed a website devoted to the eclipse at http://www.eclipseville.com/

A new visitors center under construction just off the Pennyrile Parkway will be open in time for the eclipse.

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