Fort Benning completes $6.8 million gateway project; ribbon cutting today
A $6.8 million project to transform Interstate 185 and Victory Drive into an impressive gateway into Fort Benning is complete.
“I think that everyone feels like it exceeded expectations,” said John Flournoy, chairman of the Gateways Foundation that is leading the improvement. “It just came together. I think it makes a real impression on everybody that goes in and out of there today.”
Flournoy will join Georgia Department of Transportation board member Sam Wellborn, Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Robert Brown and Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson for a 5 p.m. ribbon cutting today at the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center. The ceremony is being held away from the interstate because of heavy traffic.
Four towering monuments are erected along Victory Drive as part of the gateway to represent the Infantry School and Armor School at the Maneuver Center of Excellence. On the west side of the interstate along Victory Drive is the Follow Me Soldier and an American eagle, each 12-feet high atop a 50-foot column to represent the infantry. The Trooper on the Plains and a second eagle are perched on the east side to represent the armor.
Anyone traveling south on I-185 will be greeted by “Fort Benning Georgia” in huge letters on the north face of the Victory Drive bridge. When leaving the post, motorists will see “Columbus Georgia” on the south side.
The 56-acre gateway has 20 water fountains that can shoot water 20-feet high into the air. Behind them are 20 illuminated 50-foot flag poles.
“The lights stay on all night long because the flags are up,” Flournoy said.
To save on power, he said the fountains shut off at 11 p.m. and restart at 5:30 a.m. when soldiers start returning to post. To save water when the wind is gusting, each fountain is hooked to a gauge to lower the water during high winds, he said.
Last Tuesday, 20 enlisted soldiers from Fort Benning raised all the flags at once and the fountains were turned on. The scene will be presented in a video during the ribbon cutting, Flournoy said. The project was funded using stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Gateways Foundation.
Although the work is not part of the gateway project, Deputy City Manager David Arrington said concrete work is still under way as part of Department of Transportation plans to widen the interstate.
“They are in the closeout phase,” he said.
Arrington said he didn’t have a date on when that work would be complete.
Due to the drought, Flournoy said some frail trees at the intersection have been watered but still must be replaced.
“The time to replace any suffering tree is when it’s cooler this winter like in November, December and January,” he said.
This story was originally published October 13, 2011 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Fort Benning completes $6.8 million gateway project; ribbon cutting today."