Kenton County’s newest park will soon be named for one of its longest-serving public officials. The Kenton County Fiscal Court voted last week to name the future four-season pavilion at the upcoming Fox Ridge Park the Dr. Jon Draud Pavilion.
Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann proposed the honor during his report, calling the park a major investment in the community’s future. He said the pavilion would be “a long-term legacy” of Draud’s work, particularly in Kenton County. Commissioner Beth Sewell moved to approve, and the court voted in favor without opposition.
Draud, 87, is retiring when his term ends this year and is not seeking re-election.
“I want to thank the judge and other members of the fiscal court for this honor,” Draud said. He told colleagues that he believes strongly in parks, and that he expects the facility to be “the finest in Northern Kentucky.”
The pavilion will be part of Adventure Ridge, one of three areas planned for the 225-acre park. That section is also slated to include mountain bike trails, a pump track, climbing areas and an aerial adventure course. The county broke ground on the project this fall, and officials expect the park to reopen in 2028.
Fox Ridge Park is being built on the former Fox Run Golf Course, which the county converted to passive recreation in 2020 after determining the course wasn’t financially sustainable. It combines that land with neighboring Lincoln Ridge Park, and county officials have called it the largest investment in the park system’s history.
Draud’s career in education and government spans more than six decades. A first-generation college graduate, he taught government at Holmes High School in Covington, where he also coached the baseball team to a state championship in 1963. He went on to serve as a principal and as superintendent of the Ludlow Independent School District, worked at Northern Kentucky University and taught at Xavier University
Draud won the 63rd District seat in the Kentucky House in 1998 after Rep. Richard Murgatroyd chose not to seek re-election and ran for Kenton County Judge/Executive instead. He served eight years in the House and also spent five years on the Crestview Hills City Council. He later became Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education, but due to health issues, that tenure was cut short in 2009. The following year, he was elected to the Fiscal Court.
Earlier this year, the county renamed its annual Pioneer Awards, which recognize outstanding community service, in his honor.
When Draud announced his retirement in January, he told LINK nky, “I just don’t have the energy for it.” Fellow Commissioner Joe Nienaber, who also is not seeking re-election, will leave the court alongside him at the end of the year.
