CAMPBELL COUNTY, Ky. — The beautiful sights and sounds of AJ Jolly Park will stop you in your tracks.
It's huge, covering over 1,000 acres of land with a 200 acre lake. However, Campbell County officials said there are potential problems that need to be fixed.
The main problem revolves around structural concerns with a dam on the lake.
"When you have an asset that could conceivably fail, you keep an eye on it," Campbell County Judge Executive Steve Pendery said.
We caught up with Pendery to talk about what's going on.
Hear what changes are coming to the park in the video below:
Pendery said it's safe now, but their engineers are worried about the dam holding up in the future.
"Everybody is pretty much in agreement that it would be prudent to work now before it does become a safety issue," Pendery said.
Starting in November, the park will begin construction on a $10 million project to repair and strengthen it.
However, the money will also be going toward other fixes to the park.
To make repairs to the dam, the water level of the lake will have to be significantly lowered. Because of that, Assistant County Administrator Justin Otto said they'll also work on other projects like replacing a culvert with a bridge near the trails and dredging parts of the lake.
"It creates a better experience, but more importantly, it's better for the environment," Otto said.
Otto said doing all of that at once will save the county time and money.
Funding for the project will come from grants and resources from the state and county, according to Otto.
Here's the bad news: there will be no lake access and no camping during the 2026 season.
However, all other parts of the park, including tennis courts and the golf course, will remain open. Otto said some areas near active work zones may be restricted for safety.
Because of the construction, Otto said admission fees to the park will be waived for the 2026 season.
The county will be posting regular updates online and on social media, according to Otto.
“We’re going to accomplish something that’s going to put the park in a great position for the future and probably beyond most people’s lifetime," Pendery said.
