A park to celebrate Fort Jackson's centennial is one step closer to reality as a local non-profit organization signed a $3 million contract to begin developing the concept.
The Gateway to the Army organization's president Marty Wells, head of a group led by several former Fort Jackson commanders and sergeants major, signed the contract with Ron Clamp of Memorial Design March 10 in Columbia, South Carolina. Wells is a retired command sergeant major.
Wells said signing the contract was indicative of how the Midlands wants to support Fort Jackson.
It's going to be a success "because South Carolina values the impact Fort Jackson has on this community and has had for almost 100 years. We are looking forward to placing honor where honor should be."
Bryan Hilferty, the group's spokesman, said the Centennial Park will be "invitingly landscaped" with an amphitheater, a statue depicting drill sergeants, a pathway consisting of marble paving stones, and a memorial area listing the wartime theaters in which Fort Jackson soldiers have served.
A "big chunk" of the money used to create the park, whose groundbreaking is scheduled to coincide with the fort's 100 year anniversary, will be done through the purchase of paving stones, Hilferty added.
Fort Jackson is not spending any money for the creation of the park.
The park will "not only be for Family members but for anyone in the Midlands," said retired Maj. Gen. Abe Turner and former Fort Jackson commander. "If anyone has any connection to Fort Jackson this park is going to be there for them, in addition to all the citizens in the midlands area and South Carolina."
Visitors will "have time to spend with their Soldiers and their Families, but they will also have an opportunity to learn a lot about the history of Fort Jackson, and some of the heroes who have been through Fort Jackson for basic training," said retired Maj. Gen. George Goldsmith, with the Columbia Chamber of Commerce's military affairs committee.
The post trains roughly 60,000 men and women every year, Turner said. "Just think about the number of Family members who attended graduation ceremonies of those Soldiers who graduated from Fort Jackson; I would dare say there is not a city in America that hasn't been touched by Fort Jackson."
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