July 15, 2009 EditionAlso in this issue...News | Sports Scene | Education | Viewpoints | Records |
Archives facility construction set
John Bland
Lloyd Clark, president of the Lawrence County Historical Society, has given an update on plans for a new building to house historical records at the Powhatan Historic State Park. He was guest speaker at a recent meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Walnut Ridge. Clark said that Lawrence County's historical records have been in limbo at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for the past five or six years, when they were removed during renovation of the Powhatan Courthouse. Funding has been approved, and the blueprints are finished and approved for the archives building, to be known as the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives. He said that approval has also been given to staff the facility. "It's a slow process. Construction should start sometime in late summer or fall," Clark said. "It's a big project, a million dollar project." It would house not only the Powhatan records dating back to 1805, but records from other counties will also be housed in the archives building, he added. The Historical Society has been working with the Arkansas History Commission, the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission and the Lawrence County Quorum Court on the project.
Clark also noted that Lawrence County, known as the "Mother of Counties," will be 200 years old in 2015. The Historical Society is now considering ideas to celebrate the anniversary. Clark, who is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, retired in May after teaching history and social studies for 15 years at Walnut Ridge School.
The Times Dispatch on Facebook
|
|
