Congaree Swamp National Monument
 

The Congaree Swamp is more than a national monument to what Nature can create when left alone for thousands of years -- 22,000 acres of river bottomland threaded with creeks and graced by ancient trees, some of them record-size.  It also is a monument to the creativity of The River Alliance and its partners. They found a way to make the Congaree Swamp National Monument truly a public park after being told that easier access, parking, and an educational center were financially out of the question for the old-growth hardwood forest, the nation’s largest and one of its last.

But a quarter of a century after the federal government acquired the land and opened the park to the public, those needed amenities still did not exist. National Park Service budgets included no funding to improve the monument, despite its national and international acclaim as an environmental treasure. The Congaree Swamp National Monument was designated an international biosphere reserve and one of just 324 natural “time capsules” worldwide, yet could not accommodate busloads of school children and other tour groups for lack of facilities. Its access road was a mile-long dusty washboard winding through private property, partly residential. Its “education center” consisted of a few stuffed animals in a room the size of a hotdog stand.

These conditions, which limited use of a park unlike any other in the national park system, presented a challenge to The River Alliance, which considers the floodplain forest the “crown jewel” of all the gems along the three Midlands-area rivers. It’s also a key component in the Alliance’s regional strategy for the waterways. From its inception, in a series of “dream-catcher” meetings with citizens, the Alliance knew that maximizing public access to the Congaree Swamp National Monument for local residents and tourists alike was a major priority. But in tight times, the federal government continued to say no.

The new road and visitor/education center that enhance the monument today are the result of an innovative partnership conceived in 1997 when the Park Service turned down a $5.8 million bid for the needed road and education center.  The River Alliance, a non-profit agency guiding riverfront development in central South Carolina, obtained permission for National Guard troops from South Carolina and other states to provide the labor to build the projects, starting with the road, as a training event. Local River Alliance partners donated planning, engineering, and some road materials.  The paved public road, through the park’s own property cost $120,000, far below the $1.7 million it would have cost the government to build it. Although nobody anywhere had ever tried such an innovative approach to improving public property, successful completion of the road so cost-effectively encouraged Congress to fund a similar approach to building a visitor/education center. It helped that the National Guard was pleased with the training its troops were receiving while also serving the public good within their own borders.

The River Alliance’s next project was to find a design that would provide the needed individual and collective training for the National Guard while meeting the needs of the Congaree National Monument. The River Alliance selected John Watkins of Architectural Design Associates to design the project. He came up with a cedar-sided building with stone tiles and cathedral ceilings that fit into the natural landscape. At its heart is a replica of a hollow cypress 14 feet in girth – a tree like those for which the swamp is famous -- that seems to grow through the ceiling. Its interior contains graphics and other exhibits that showcase the unique plant and animal life that visitors will find throughout the swamp.

With John Watkins also serving as site coordinator, National Guard troops from several states, working on two-week rotations for two years, completed the 12,000-square-foot center for $2.3 million, less than half the National Park Service’s original estimate. A few of the troops found the project so intriguing they wanted to help finish it – on their own time. And the National Park Service was so impressed that it is touting the Congaree Swamp experience as a model for other communities to follow. The project won a Park Services commendation as well.

The improvements are expected to double attendance at the park, which drew 100,000 visitors last year.