The four-season pavilion at Kenton County's new Fox Ridge Park will carry the name of Dr. Jon Draud, the 87-year-old commissioner who is retiring at the end of the year.
The Kenton County Fiscal Court voted unanimously in mid-October to designate the structure the Dr. Jon Draud Pavilion, LINK nky reported. Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann proposed the honor during his report, calling the pavilion "a long-term legacy" of Draud's work. Commissioner Beth Sewell moved to approve, and the court voted without opposition.
The pavilion will sit inside Adventure Ridge, one of three sections planned for the 225-acre park off Independence Station Road. That zone is planned to include mountain bike trails, a pump track, climbing areas and an aerial adventure course. Construction began Sept. 14, and officials expect the park to reopen in August 2028.
"I want to thank the judge and other members of the fiscal court for this honor," Draud said at the meeting, adding that he expects the facility to be "the finest in Northern Kentucky."
Draud's public career spans more than six decades. A first-generation college graduate, he taught government at Holmes High School in Covington and coached the baseball team to a state championship in 1963. He later served as superintendent of the Ludlow Independent School District and taught at Xavier University.
Elected in 1998, he served in the Kentucky House from 1999 to 2007. He also spent five years on the Crestview Hills City Council. He later became Kentucky's Commissioner of Education, but health issues cut that tenure short. He joined the fiscal court around 2010.
The county has recognized Draud in other ways this year. Its annual Pioneer Awards, which honor outstanding community service, were renamed the Dr. Jon Draud Pioneer Award. He and his wife, Beverly, served as grand marshals of the Edgewood Fourth of July Parade on July 4.
Fox Ridge Park is being built on the former Fox Run Golf Course, which the county converted to passive recreation after determining the course was no longer financially sustainable. The site combines that land with neighboring Lincoln Ridge Park. The fiscal court approved a $14.4 million first-phase construction contract with Prus Construction on Sept. 8 for demolition, earthwork and site utilities. County officials have called the project the largest investment in the park system's history.
In coverage published in January, Draud told LINK nky he was stepping away from public life. "I just don't have the energy for it," he said.
Fellow Commissioner Joe Nienaber, who also is not seeking reelection, will leave the court alongside Draud in December.
