Bond secures $3 mil for George Washington Carver center

“One of the nation’s greatest agricultural scientists was a native Missourian – George Washington Carver,” said Bond. “The history of this famous Missourian is important, and a national monument recognizing his contributions and achievements is only fitting. I will continue my efforts to ensure this monument and the visitors center receives the federal support it needs.”

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Bond secured $3.187 million for the George Washington Carver Visitors Center in the fiscal year 2005 Interior Appropriations Bill. The spending bill has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. Before being signed into law the bill must be passed by the full U.S. Senate and reconciled with the House of Representatives’ bill.

Bond has secured critical federal dollars for the project in previous fiscal years. In fiscal year 2003, Bond secured $300,000 for the project and an additional $2 million in the last fiscal year.

George Washington Carver, born a slave during the Civil War, became a renowned agricultural chemist. Carver developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discovered hundreds of new uses for crops such as the peanut, which created new markets for farmers, especially in the South.

In recognition of Carver’s contributions and achievements, the National Park Service named Carver’s birthplace and boyhood farm in Diamond a national monument. The current facilities at the monument are insufficient to accommodate the tens of thousands of visitors the site hosts annually.

Specifically, the visitor’s center has an urgent need for more space for meetings and exhibits and for secure shelter to protector visitors and staff from the unpredictable severe weather the area frequently experiences.