Partnership advances $114 million Civil War visitor center

The Vicksburg Post

Partnership advances $114 million Civil War visitor center

Plans for the new museum and visitor center at the Vicksburg National Military Park moved forward Wednesday, following a local funding commitment of up to $15.5 million.

By Don Hill, The Vicksburg Post

State, federal and local officials gathered Wednesday at the site of a planned $114 million Civil War visitor center and museum at Vicksburg National Military Park, where a new 60,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2030.

The center will replace the park's aging, flood-prone visitor center. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History will own the building, with the National Park Service serving as its long-term tenant.

The announcement came two days after the city of Vicksburg and Warren County approved a commitment of up to $15.5 million toward the project. The money will come from future payments in lieu of taxes from Entergy Mississippi's $1.2 billion Vicksburg Advanced Power Station.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who grew up in Vicksburg and helped secure the state's funding for the project, had particular praise for the local commitment.

"Back when I was growing up here, I didn't know that we had people that were thinking decades ahead," Hosemann said after the ceremony. "They did, and I really appreciate it."

Warren County Board of Supervisors President Kelle Barfield said the county's contribution is an investment in future growth.

"If we want real economic development in Warren County, the key concept is development. Invest to grow," Barfield said in a written statement.

Barfield said the new power station will bring the county tax revenue it does not currently receive. Putting some of that money toward the visitor center, she said, could bring more jobs and help support county services without raising taxes on existing residents and businesses.

Mississippi has committed $56 million toward construction. Private donors have pledged another $15 million, while $3 million in federal funding has been secured. Even with the local contribution, the project still needs more money to reach its estimated $114 million cost.

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the work to secure that funding will continue.

"We're going to get to the other side of this as well," Hyde-Smith said.

Retired Gen. Robert Crear, president of the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, recalled meeting with Hosemann three years ago to ask the state to pay half the cost of a new federally owned visitor center.

Hosemann had another idea. Mississippi could own the building, much as it owns the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson.

That arrangement became the basis for the project announced Wednesday. Spence Flatgard, president of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees, said the design is nearly finished.

The new center will stand on 12.7 acres beside the battlefield. Its 16,000-square-foot museum will cover the events leading to the Civil War, the Vicksburg Campaign and siege, occupation, Reconstruction and the establishment of the military park. Plans also call for classrooms, research and archival space, a cafe, retail space and outdoor educational areas.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the museum should tell the stories of people whose experiences have not always been represented at the park.

"For a long time, a lot of boys and girls like me didn't feel like the story was told at this park like it should have," Thompson said.

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called Wednesday's announcement "an exercise in bipartisanship."

"This event is a salute to philanthropic foundations. It's a recognition of volunteerism. It's an investment in tourism and job creation," Wicker said.

A study commissioned for the project estimates $231 million in regional economic activity during its first seven years, 200,000 additional visitors annually and 1,630 jobs created.

The ceremony ended with elected officials and private donors signing a replica Parrott artillery shell.

"Not to begin a battle, but to begin a partnership and a fundraising campaign. This is our opening round," Crear said. "And together, we will build a place where generations will come to understand Vicksburg."

Hosemann's connection to the battlefield goes back generations. His great-great-grandfather fought during the siege, not far from where Wednesday's ceremony was held.

"Sometimes you wonder if the Lord doesn't just put you in a place where you might be able to help it," he said. "I got hired to do a job, and it turned out that I could help tell some of the story about our country."