Ambitious US$100m (€94.1m, £80.2m) plans have been submitted to Kentucky’s Department of Tourism to develop a 1 million sq ft (93,000sq m) retail and entertainment centre – part of a larger plan to develop 300 acres (1.2 million sq m) of tourist attractions.

Del Spina Enterprises, a locally-based corporation which submitted the plans, want to develop 100 acres for retail and accommodation, while the remaining 200 acres will be used to provide attractions in a park setting, including nature trails, a petting zoo, observation tower with chair lifts, zip lines, whitewater rafting and horseback riding through the adjacent National Forest.

Dubbed a “micro-mini Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge type attraction”, the project would become the "Gateway to Lake Cumberland" – an area which welcomes more than 4.7 million tourists on an annual basis.

Dubbed ‘Miracle Mile Complex’ the development will also include an outdoor 25 acre (102,000sq m) Amphitheatre, which will offer special entertainment events throughout the four seasons. A second phase of development would include an additional 125-acre (505,000sq m) plot of land to accommodate the needs for further anchor tenants, a trucking depot or a distribution centre.