North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to get new visitor center
Originally published: June 15. 2009 11:58AMLast modified: June 15. 2009 11:58AM
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is rounding out a weekend of celebrating the park's 75th anniversary with a lasting reminder.
National Park Service officials will break ground Monday on a new visitor center on the North Carolina side of the 500,000-acre park.
The new 7,000-square-foot building will replace the current Oconaluftee Visitor Center — a former ranger station and court room built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
The Great Smoky Mountains Association and the Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are funding construction and exhibits. There are also donations from the Cherokee Preservation Society.
Ceremonies were scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT with the groundbreaking at noon.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press
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