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Grand Ecore Visitors Center Gets New Volunteer Staffing

Published June 3, 2013
The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and supports disaster response in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and supports disaster response in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Vicksburg, Miss –The Vicksburg District of the Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Wendell Wilson Folk Art Academy entered into a Volunteer Services Agreement (VSA) on 1 June 2013 to staff the Grand Ecore Visitor Center located in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  Colonel Jeffrey Eckstein, Commander of the Vicksburg District, and Wendell Wilson, Director of the Folk Art Academy, signed the agreement, which goes into effect immediately.

 

While the Corps will continue to provide overall management, utilities funding, and repairs to the exhibits and facilities, the academy will team with other nonprofit organizations to provide volunteers to assist in the academic and operational activities at the center.  Mr. Wilson stated, “My team and I are honored to have an opportunity to serve the Corps and provide a service to the community. We are designing programs to complement the existing exhibits, as well as bring in new and creative programs for both children and adults.” 

 

The Visitor Center displays exhibits that educate and inform the public about the water and the Corps’ role in development, preservation, and enhancement of the water resources in the region, as well as the geology, paleontology, and Native American cultures.  The center is located near Grand Ecore, Louisiana, which is approximately four miles north of Natchitoches and commands a panoramic view from an 80-foot bluff above the Red River. 

 

The J. Bennett Johnston Waterway extends 236 miles from Shreveport, Louisiana, to the Mississippi River and provides navigation, flood damage reduction, ecosystem restoration benefits, and numerous recreational opportunities.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Red River Waterway Commission have partnered together since the mid-1960s to make the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway navigation and recreation project a reality.  For more information, visit: http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/GrandEcoreVisitorCenter.aspx


Contact
Kavanaugh Breazeale
601-631-5052
kavanaugh.breazeale@usace.army.mil

Release no. 13-054