This Land, Your Land

The Great Smoky Mountains Association has announced plans to replace Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains Park with a new 6,500-square-foot visitor center, the Asheville Citizen-Times says.

The new structure, the first major park facility constructed entirely with donations, according to the Citizen-Times, will be located about two miles north of the Cherokee entrance to the park. The Great Smoky Mountains Association is funding construction of the visitor center and Friends of the Smokies is equipping it with interpretive media. Construction should begin early next year and the center should open in 2011.

Great Smoky Mountains Association is a nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to support the Park's educational, scientific, and historical programs. "Our mission is to enhance public enjoyment and understanding of Great Smoky Mountains National Park," the GSMA says.

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect the park by raising money and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects, its Web site says.

The new center will replace a 1,700-square-foot stone building that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. It serves up to 350,000 visitors annually, the newspaper says.