Plan envisions national tourist attraction at Jefferson Barracks
Suburban Journals
February 2, 2010
by Jim Merkel
More people may be coming to a memorial to the Battle of the Bulge at Jefferson Barracks County Park.
And Stewart Piper, a Battle of the Bulge veteran who helped bring the memorial to the park, is happy about that prospect.
Piper referred to a plan announced last week for converting the collection of buildings, parkland and military bases at Jefferson Barracks into a national tourist attraction. The plan to bring in as many as 180,000 to 250,000 visitors a year and help the local economy would cost about $68 million.
"It's something we needed a long time ago," Piper, 86, said. "It's a great idea."
About 160 people turned out for an open house and program held Jan. 25 in the Jefferson Barracks County Park visitors center. Most of those at the open house reacted positively.
"I think it's great. We've lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. We see this as a tremendous opportunity to put a lot of things in one place," said Bob Pennycuick, 71, a retired major general in the U.S. Army Reserve.
"It looks pretty good to me. I won't be around to see the end of it," William Sachs, 87, who found in the South Pacific in World War II, said.
But Harrison Ochs, 87, expressed concern about the proposal's possible effort on plans to expand the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. The cemetery is running out of space.
The plan is the result of a year-long study by Woolpert, a national planning company with offices in St. Louis. The plan cost nearly $300,000. A total of $269,000 was provided by the Department of Defense and about $30,000 by the St. Louis County Economic Council.
The master plan calls for new museums, lodging, shops and roads to better connect different parts of the former installation.
The attraction would be built in phases with completion by 2026, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson Barracks.
A primary building would be a new presidential library and museum, Scott Emmelkamp, Jefferson Barracks project manager with Woolpert, said.
While no president has been designated, one might be U.S. Grant, who served at the installation, Emmelkamp said.
There also would be an interpretive center.
"There's not one place in Jefferson Barracks now that tells the whole story," Emmelkamp said.
Proponents of the plan believe the Jefferson Barracks' history will make it attractive to tourists.
Troops came to the installation before fighting in the Mexican War, Civil War, World War I and World War II. Civil War leaders who served there besides Grant included Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. The post was decommissioned in 1946.
The plan would pull together land that now includes the Sylvan Springs and Jefferson Barracks county parks. Other parts to be include are a Missouri National Guard base, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and Jefferson Barracks VA Medical Center.
Funding could be through a tax-funded district, tax increment financing, historic tax credits or private money, the plan said.
The proposal pleased John Deguire of Feed My People, a ministry for the needy with an office in Lemay near the Jefferson Barracks County Park.
"Jefferson Barracks is a jewel in the rough. The history of Jefferson Barracks is fantastic," Deguire said.
