MACON, Ga. — A bill to upgrade the Ocmulgee National Monument to national park status is sitting on President Trump's desk, waiting for signature, but the Macon-Bibb Commission is already making plans for the potential historic park.
An easement between the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority and the Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation will bring streetscape improvements to Walnut and Pursley Streets at the entrance of Linwood Cemetery.
For decades Linwood Cemetery has been left mostly to its own devices. Headstones are broken and graves are littered with trash and overgrowth.
"Just in my lifetime, I've seen the cemetery go down. You used to be able to drive through the roadways that are here, and it's really, it's awful," said Yolanda Latimore, who sits on the MCPC board.
The cemetery is ripe with history. It houses the memorial of Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Rodney M. Davis and the first black congressman, Jefferson Long.
The easement is part of the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail connector project between Walnut Street and Riverside Drive.
It will give the cemetery a one time clean-up of debris, trash and vegetation and attempt to purchase a blighted home beside the cemetery to serve as a resource center.
That will give the MCPC the ability to focus their attention on other things.
"We will be able to shift a lot of the effort to clear the land on restoring the broken headstones that are out here and sharing the history to engage more people," Latimore said.
The MCPC wants to also develop a perpetual trust to continually gather funding for improvements and eventually to hire full time staff. Those who clean the cemetery regularly now are all volunteers.
The actual trail for the easement could still be a decade off.
Josh Rogers of Newtown Macon said a cost estimate came to about $3 million. Their annual fundraising only comes to about $300,000 and that's spread throughout several projects.