Photo: Discovery - Money Talks

MONEY TALKS — Chairmen of the theme committees and non-exhibit committees working to design Discovery Park of America received their operating budgets Thursday afternoon at a meeting at Obion County Public Library. Jim Rippy, president of Discovery Park of America board of directors, handed out detailed manuals that included not only each group’s budget but a revised layout of the park and forms the committees will use as they begin their efforts to acquire artifacts and items for exhibit at Discovery Park of America. The park will be built just south of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and west of Union City Second Baptist Church between Everett Boulevard and the future I-69 superhighway in Union City. Discussing their plans following the session were (from left) activities committee chairman Kristen Miles; food service/catering/kitchens committee chairman Betsy Henderson; and Rippy. The multi-million dollar facility, which will include the innovatively designed anchor museum and civic center and the pioneer village and gardens within the 50-acre plot, also has space reserved for a proposed tourist information center associated with the new superhighway. Groundbreaking will be in early summer, Rippy said. One of the major changes put forth in the park’s design was the shift of the transportation and military history exhibits to buildings on the grounds rather than space inside the museum. This move was made to accommodate the square footage needed for these displays, Rippy said. Committees will now go back to the drawing board and will determine precisely what they can get for their money, begin efforts to secure the items they want and initiate conferences with the architects in Ottawa, Ontario, to design their spaces in more detail.

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