Leadership Macon, Ocmulgee Mounds look to increase education resources with new project

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park offers Maconites and tourists a place to go to enjoy nature and to step into a piece of history.

Soon, it will also offer more resources for education.

On Wednesday, the Leadership Macon Class of 2019 announced its project: Ocmulgee Mounds Education.

“I knew in February during the government shutdown that the woodland house had been destroyed. Our project kind of bore out of that idea of rebuilding the woodland house,” said Ann Starley, the project chair. “Then, how can we expand and make this property more accessible and more educational?”

The project will have three parts: building an amphitheater that serve as an outdoor classroom, restoring the Woodland Hut and purchasing S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) trunks, which will have lesson plans and hands-on activities for all ages.

The Woodland Hut collapsed after a teen, horseplaying with others, jumped into it, according to a previous Telegraph story.

“It’s not just a building,” said Lisa Lemon, the executive director of the Ocmulgee National Monument Association. “The Woodland people would have created these out here when they lived here.”

The project comes on the heels of Ocmulgee National Monument’s upgrade to a national historical park in March.

Since then, the park has worked to extend the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, which is now over 11 miles long.

Yvonne Williams, president of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, said the park is geared towards walkability, hiking and picnicking.

Projects by previous Leadership Macon classes include blight removal, an outdoor exercise course at Amerson River Park and a bridge on the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.

The class of 2019 is raising $75,000 to fund their project, according to a press release. Starley said their deadline is November. To help, donate at https://www.ocmulgeemounds.org.