New Interpretive Center for Vicksburg National Park on track for 2028 opening
Plans for a more comprehensive and much larger Interpretive Center at the Vicksburg National Military Park are on track towards completion by the original target year of 2028, key people in the project announced at two November 20 community engagements. The first engagement was held at the noontime History is Lunch program at Jackson’s Two Museums; the second at the Vicksburg National Military Park Visitor Center for a 5:30 p.m. presentation.
Representatives of the architecture firm Perkins & Will and the exhibit design firm Gallagher & Associates presented an overview of the various architectural and design concepts in the development of the new center that will cost between $80 million to $120 million when finished.
The project is a collaboration, or partnership, among the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign (FOV), and the National Park Service (NPS) at the Vicksburg National Military Park. The State of Mississippi has already provided $16 million for the beginning stages of the project.
MDAH project manager Megan Bankston said the new Interpretive Center will connect visitors with the Vicksburg Campaign, a pivotal chapter in American history.
“From these sessions,” Bankston said, “the public will have opportunities to learn about the partnership project, our goals, and engage with us as we move forward with the development of the new center.”
MORE ACREAGE
At least 12.5 acres will be added to the front access to the park grounds. The park site, the city, and the river will all play essential roles in the final product. With I-20 on the right and the park on the far left, the new building will sit between the two. The visitor’s journey through the center goes all the way from pre-war Vicksburg to Vicksburg today.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a native of Vicksburg, told the audience in Jackson about his role in getting the State of Mississippi to enter the partnership on the project.
Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs and others approached Hosemann two years ago with the idea of having the federal government build a new Welcome Center for the Vicksburg Military Park, he said.
Hosemann didn’t think the feds would be able to take on such a major task, since they had fallen behind on the upkeep of Union Avenue, a major access route in the National Park, and the restoration of a large number of gravesites in the National Cemetery. Hosemann said he thought Mississippi should build its own interpretive center. And the state committed to grant $40 million for the project, he said.
“What’s really important is that we get people to come to Mississippi (to) see how we’re progressing right now, a hundred years later. We talked to the architects about this. Mississippi is a big neighborhood. And we’re a front-porch neighborhood. The architects’ designs reflect that front porch society,” Hosemann said.
He also spoke of the openness of Mississippi as a society, “where you find people walking down the street and speaking to one another.” And he said the Mississippi center, when it’s finished, will be better than the one at Gettysburg, a highly touted center nationwide.
ECONOMIC BOOM
Flaggs says the new center may be just the right spark to bring about a potential economic boom for Vicksburg.
“As Mayor of the City of Vicksburg, I believe the new Interpretive Center at the Vicksburg National Military Park is a game changer for our city,” Flaggs said. “This state-of-the-art facility will drive economic development, clear cultural understanding, boost tourism, and provide unparalleled educational opportunities for our community. It reflects Vicksburg’s commitment to growth and innovation.”
Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, president of the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, said the partnership existing among the state, the FOV, and the National Park Service will open up new vistas for many of the people whose stories have not yet been told.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Crear said.
The new center will be owned and operated by the State of Mississippi, and not by the National Park Service, Crear said.
“It’s a partnership between the Friends (FOV), the State of Mississippi, represented by MDAH, and the National Park Service,” he said.
A NEW DAY
While Black Civil War history and social life of Vicksburg were frequently overlooked, distorted, or even dismissed by state and local historians in the past, Crear says that time has passed.
“That will not be the case this time,” he said. “This time we’ll tell the full story. Not only of the USCT, but also of the contrabands. It will be about people who lived through that history told by the people who lived through it. Stories of enslaved people, and the people who lived after slavery.
“In the past, the story was denied. They did not tell our history. You only knew what you knew back then. But now, we know a whole lot more. We’re going to make sure the full story is told.”
SAVING BATTLEFIELDS
The State of Mississippi, through MDAH, has developed a major strategy with the American Battlefield Trust to preserve portions of all of the battlefields from the Vicksburg Campaign.
Congress authorized the Vicksburg National Military Park to expand its holdings to include Champion Hill, Port Gibson, and Raymond in 2014. All three are now properties of the VNMP.
Under Crear’s leadership as president of the FOV, a successful fund-raising campaign was organized to improve visitor facilities at all three sites.
On July 2, 2019, the State of Mississippi, FOV, and the National Park Service announced the turnover of 800 acres of Champion Hill Battlefield to the National Park Service, one of the largest additions ever made to VNMP.
A number of other National Park and Civil War battlefield sites have also undergone expansion and improvements in recent years.
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