Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

[Dignann]

Governor OKs $2.5 million for Resaca battle site

By John Willis

Calhoun Times [Calhoun, Geo.]
June 5, 2007

In a surprise move, Gov. Sonny Perdue redirected $2.5 million that had been earmarked for a performing arts center in Cobb County to the Resaca Battlefield development project.

Perdue had initially asked for $5 million in the supplemental budget for the project, which will develop the site on Interstate 75 in time for the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

The project was cut as the governor, the House and the Senate fought over the budget, but Rep. John Meadows, R-Calhoun, was able to restore $500,000 in planning money for the project.

At that point, Meadows said he believed that would be all the money available this year for the project, which called for building a welcome center and museum at the battlefield, scene of the first engagement during Sherman’s Atlanta campaign.

But when Perdue signed the 2008 budget, he authorized the Department of Economic Development to spend the $2.5 million earmarked for the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center “for the continued development of the Resaca Battlefield project or other priorities in accordance with the purpose of the Tourism program.”

The order was one of a number of budget redirections that the governor issued when he signed the budget, said Bert Brantley, a spokesman for the governor’s office.

“Resaca was not the only project for which funds were redirected,” Brantley said. “The governor did this on a number of projects where money was budgeted for projects that were not the primary purpose of that agency.”

“I’m ecstatic,” Meadows said. “The Resaca development will also have long-term economic benefits, especially as Georgia celebrates the sesquicentennial of the Civil War starting in 2001.

“Tourism will shine in Gordon County when this project is completed, and I believe it will cause big things to happen,” he said.

A $40,000 local assistance grant to fund Gordon County courthouse renovation also stayed in the budget, Meadows said.

“That was a project we had asked for last year, and it will cost a lot more than $40,000 to complete,” he said. “The county is contributing quite a bit of money to the courthouse project.”

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=722&NewsID=811849&CategoryID=3388&show=localnews&om=0

Eric

[HighPrvt]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Outstanding,Can't wait to do some LH's on that hollowed ground...

[trippcor]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

That is great news indeed. That area is really starting to develop with folks trying to escape Atlanta and with the growth of Chattanooga. The sooner the State can get that park open to raise awareness the better.

[DougCooper]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Now that is leadership. Great to see.

[pipthelimey]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Hooray! I'm actually working as an electrician at the Performing Arts Center they mentioned. Don't cry for them, they're blowing through money like crazy. $10,000 chandeliers in the ballroom, (8 of them) and $26,000 chandeliers in the atrium, (6 of them) plus $100/yd carpeting across the building... The list goes on. Cobb EMC is picking up most of the tab anyway. Plus, they've come back and said all the construction workers won't be getting a free pair of tickets as originally promised, because it's not in the budget. Well guess what, neither is the $2.5 million, hehe. Resaca is a much worthier cause.

Kind Regards,
Andrew Jerram
The "Sonny Did" mess

[lthull3rdla]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

This is Fantastic News!

Ronnie

[rebel7398]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Resaca was my first reinactment. I was campaigning at the time and it rained and rained and rained some more. Had bring in tractors to get some of the vehicles out of the parking lot.

I am glad to hear they are finally getting some funding!!

[Dignann]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

State seeks partners to develop Resaca battlefield

Local participation will be key to completing project, says DNR's Holcomb

Calhoun Times [Clahoun, Geo.]
August 30, 2007

Georgia is looking for local partners to fully develop the Resaca Battlefield site in time for the 2011 sesquicen-tennial of the Civil War, a state official said.

Noel Holcomb, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources was in Calhoun Thursday to brief local leaders about the battlefield project and get commitments for local government participation in the $5 million project.

“The state is committed to this project, but we are looking for local support as well,” Holcomb told officials from Gordon County, Calhoun, Resaca, Dalton and Chickamauga.

Holcomb said there is $2 million in the budget but he needs another $500,000 to build the 10,000-square-foot build-ing. “The $2.5 million for the building does not include any of the furnishings, exhibits, displays, fixtures or the trails we will need,” he said.

He said the Department of Transportation has committed $695,000 to build the road from Ga. 136 into the site.

“We are looking for in-kind participation from local governments,” he said. “The governor likes to see partners when we put a project like this together.”

He said he will request an additional $3 million in the fiscal 2009 budget to complete the project.

The state owns 540 acres of the 1864 battlefield, site of the first major engagement of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. Gordon County owns some adjacent property that is the site of Fort Wayne.

The planned visitors center will be a portal to Georgia’s other Civil War sites as the nation celebrates the 150th anniversary of the conflict beginning in 2011.

“Resaca is the most significant Civil War battlefield that is adjacent to an Interstate highway,” he said. “This visitors center will have a huge economic footprint on Gordon County and the rest of the state, as well. Developing it will be a great opportunity for Gordon County and surrounding counties.”

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=722&NewsID=834166&CategoryID=11570&on=1

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Resaca Battlefield should have money to launch

By Lori Yount

Chattanooga Times Free Press [Chattanooga, Tenn.]
April 9, 2008

ATLANTA — With $3 million in the budget passed by the Legislature last week, construction of a visitors center at Resaca Civil War battlefield could start by the end of this year, the project’s chief engineer said.

“We’re doing as much preliminary work as we can, so when we get the money, we can start right away,” said David Freedman, chief engineer for the parks division of the Department of Natural Resources. The hope is the battlefield park will be ready to serve as Georgia’s gateway for the 150th year commemoration of the Civil War.

Mr. Freedman cautioned there are still steps that must be taken before the project near the Whitfield-Gordon county line gets the money. Those include Gov. Sonny Perdue signing the bill, and waiting for Georgia to sell a bond package.

Resaca Battlefield is seen as the starting point for the influx of heritage tourists expected to visit Georgia and its Civil War sites beginning in 2011 — the 150th anniversary of the start of the war, said John Culpepper, Civil War Commission chairman and city manager of Chickamauga.

He said that for historians, the battle is seen as the starting point of Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s 1864 campaign to take Atlanta.

About 900,000 people each year visit the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, generating about $36 million for the economy, he said.

Those numbers are expected to boom in the four years commemorating the Civil War’s milestone anniversary, Mr. Culpepper said.

He said he was also “relieved” the Legislature restored full funding of $50,000 to the Civil War Commission, which is helping small Georgia communities prepare their sites and monuments for the anniversary, as are similar groups in other southern states.

“We’re all working on it,” Mr. Culpepper said. “When studying the Civil War, most of us are walking on the same ground as our ancestors walked. ... It’s our history. It’s in our blood.”

Gov. Perdue still has to study the whole budget, but the battlefield money was part of his original budget proposal, so it’s “certainly a project he has supported and thinks is the right thing to do,” said spokesman Bert Brantley.

The battlefield’s entrance road is under construction, but Mr. Freedman said officials decided to wait for additional money before starting the design and construction of the visitors center. It should take 12 to 18 months to build once the money arrives.

After work is well under way, Mr. Freedman said engineers can decide how far the state’s money will go in work on interpretive trails throughout the battlefield.

The state money not only allows significant construction to begin, Mr. Freedman said, but will also help launch “ a real aggressive fundraising” program for the battlefield park.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/apr/09/resaca-battlefield-should-have-money-launch/

Eric

[Resaca]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

I've heard that the archealogical study had been completed in the area of the entrance road. ( I saw all there little orange flags everywhere in the field). But I've yet to see any construction begun on the entrance road yet. I hope it starts soon, the sooner the better. We gave a tour of some other parts of the battlefield to some folks from the "Civil War Forum" group a couple of weeks ago. Heard a lot of positive comments. It will truly be a great day when this park is open.


Tony Patton
Blue Ridge Mess
Armory Guards
Friends of the Resaca Battlefield

[Mtn.Guerilla]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Tony, I agree with it's great that an effort is finally being made toward preserving and upgrading that great site. It's also nice to know John Culpepper is involved, he's a great fella and real take charge kind of guy, and very active in southern heritage preservation.

[Dignann]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Georgia: Resaca Battlefield project marches on

By Lori Yount

Chattanooga Times Free Press [Chattanooga, Tenn.]
June 2, 2008

Gen. William T. Sherman’s Atlanta campaign was bad news for the Confederacy in 1864. But almost 150 years later, it’s good news for Georgia’s economy.

With Gov. Sonny Perdue’s final approval of $3 million in bonds last month, local and state officials believe the development of a Resaca Battlefield park near the Gordon-Whitfield county line is secured.

The facility will become a clearinghouse of Civil War information, and be complete before an influx in heritage tourists expected in 2011, the 150th anniversary of the war’s beginning.

Groundbreaking on the visitors center is expected late this summer.

“The Resaca battle was the beginning of the end of the Confederacy,” said John Culpepper, chairman of the Georgia Civil War Commission and Chickamauga city manager. “The war ended in Georgia.”

Tourism is the second largest industry in Georgia, and historic tourism is steadily becoming a larger part of that. Leaders said they hope transforming the battlefield — conveniently located just off Interstate 75 — can attract and direct Civil War buffs along in the footsteps of Gen. Sherman and to sites throughout the state.

Most of the initial state funding for the project in last year’s budget was re-directed to other projects, stalling construction of the visitors center, but the bonds approved by Gov. Perdue last month already were being sold last week, said Rep. John Meadows, R-Calhoun.

“It’s an awfully good project — good for the state of Georgia and the whole Southeast,” he said. “It’s just an economic boon.”

And now with state money secure, it’s time for the local communities to finish the mission with supplemental funds.

Ken Padgett, president of the nonprofit group Friends of Resaca Battlefield, said his organization has secured a $10,000 grant from the Calhoun-Gordon County Community Foundation for site development. The money will be directed to the Department of Natural Resources, the state agency in charge of transforming the 500-acre site.

Uncertainty in state money threatened the grant, Mr. Padgett said.

“We have until October to spend that money,” he said. “If the governor had not signed (the bonds), we would likely have re-routed the money.”

Mr. Padgett said the organization also will help the community raise $500,000 for park furnishings, such as benches and fountains.

“(Fundraising) plans in the next month are really going to gear up and go,” he said.

To complement the state’s battlefield preservation project, the nonprofit group and Gordon County continue a preservation effort to buy and plan to develop land near what is considered the Fort Wayne part of the battlefield, where Mr. Padgett said the first shots of the battle were fired.

The state Department of Transportation budget includes $200,000 to develop the land by blazing interpretive trails and an entrance.

“We hope to have it opened to the public before the state opens the battlefield,” he said. “They’ll be in a bird’s eye view of each other. They’ll both complement each other.”

The two sites represent only about 20 percent of the area in which the May 1864 clash took place, Mr. Padgett said, with the rest held by private owners.

The Fort Wayne project should be finished by the end of 2009, he said.

The state is projected to finish the visitors center within 18 months of receiving the $3 million. The next phase of the development, which includes interpretive trails, might require more money from the state Legislature next session and may not be completed until the end of 2010, Mr. Padgett said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Culpepper said Civil War commissions in the region are banding together to promote their areas for the 150th anniversary. He said a tri-state committee of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama preservationists are pooling funds to buy billboards, fliers and special offers to advertise sites already open to the public.

“We need to promote more of what we have now, and we’re doing that,” Mr. Culpepper said.

http://www.tfponline.com/news/2008/jun/02/georgia-resaca-battlefield-project-marches/?local

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Resaca Battlefield to Get $2.5 Million from State

Resaca groundbreaking set for Oct. 22

Calhoun Times [Calhoun, Geo.]
August 14, 2008

State officials plan to break ground for the planned $5 million Battle of Resaca visitors center on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m., according to information from the Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites department.

The state owns 540 acres of the 1864 battlefield, site of the first major engagement of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. Gordon County owns some adjacent property that is the site of Fort Wayne.

The planned visitors center will be a portal to Georgia’s other Civil War sites as the nation celebrates the 150th anniversary of the conflict beginning in 2011.

“Resaca is the most significant Civil War battlefield that is adjacent to an Interstate highway,” Noel Holcomb, commissioner of the Georgia Deparment of Natural Rersources, said earlier. “This visitors center will have a huge economic footprint on Gordon County and the rest of the state, as well. Developing it will be a great opportunity for Gordon County and surrounding counties.”

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=722&NewsID=919876&CategoryID=3388&on=1

Eric