Planned since ’96, Midlands visitors center chronicling 12,000 years of history on its way
From a gravel lot sitting near an apartment complex and the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center, an amenity that local officials have been working for years to get built will soon rise.
The city of Cayce announced that it has received a $2.1 million donation from local philanthropic organization the Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation to construct its long-gestating visitors center at the 12,000 Year History Park, a city-owned amenity that sits on 350 acres and connects to the Cayce Riverwalk and Timmerman Trail.
The center has been in active development since 2021, when the first of two $1 million grants from the state allowed the city to get going with site preparations on Fort Congaree Trail, across from the tennis center and sitting near an entrance to the 3.5-mile Timmerman Trail loop.
But the idea stretches back much further. Ozzie Naglar, who stood beside Mayor Elise Partin as she addressed a press conference Tuesday at the visitors center site, first drew up conceptual design for the project in 1996.
Now, with site preparation completed and paid for, the $2.1 million from the Boyd Foundation promises to push the project across the finish line. Partin said the hope is to break ground in 2025, after which the building should take 10-12 months to complete.
”I’ll be even happier when we get to the groundbreaking,” Partin said. “This is really awesome, but let’s, let’s move some dirt, and let’s see this thing start to come out of the ground.”
The park is named for the fact that proof of habitation going back 12,000 years can be found on the site.
“Over the last 120 centuries, the area has had an array of inhabitants, including mammoths, Native American tribes and Civil War soldiers,” the park’s website details. “It includes earthworks from an 1865 Civil War battle. The park is full of stories and offers something for explorers of all ages.”
The city already gives guided tours and hosts nature days and Civil War encampments at the park. The visitors center will look to enrich these offerings with rotating exhibits made specifically for the space.
“You can learn about what happened here, the Revolutionary War battles that were fought here,” Partin said. “All of the archeology that’s already been unearthed will be a part of that, so that people can see. There was a signet ring that had a lion on it that was the crest, you know, all kinds of different pieces that tell the story of what happened in just this one square mile.”
The River Alliance — which works on behalf of Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce and the counties of Lexington and Richland to foster better access to and local use of of the Congaree, Broad and Saluda rivers that course through the area — has been part of the effort to add the visitors center since the beginning.
This isn’t the first time that the Boyd Foundation has funded the Alliance’s ongoing efforts to create an interconnected riverwalk system that can take people from the Timmerman Trail to the Lake Murray Dam. The foundation gave more than $1 million to fund its namesake Boyd Island nature sanctuary, connected via bridge to the Saluda Riverwalk, which opened to the public last year. And it’s promised to back the River Alliance’s effort to build a walking bridge from the Saluda Riverwalk across the Congaree River to the Riverfront Park trail running along the Columbia Canal.
River Alliance CEO Mike Dawsom sees the addition of the visitors center as vital to its efforts to link the area’s riverwalks to create 27 uninterrupted miles of walking path.
“We will then have at an exit off the interstate highway: ‘Greenway this way,’” he said, noting that the center will also bring the parking and bathrooms that visitors expect. “Whether you’re interested in history or not, I think we can convince you once we get you once we get you here. The connection time here is zero. You could park here, hit the greenway with your bike, dog, kids, roller blades, whatever, and you’re on a river.”
Partin agreed that increasing the visibility, accessibility and appeal of the riverwalk and the 12,000 Year History Park promises a boost to local tourism.
“[It’ll be] easily accessible for school groups, easily accessible for adding another stop in our region so that people stay longer and get to experience our region more,” the mayor said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:40 PM.
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