Project Title: Make improvements at Piedmont NWR Visitor Center (FFS# R4JG)

State: Georgia

Initial Project Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS, the Service) awarded a contract for $695,440 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, Recovery Act) funds to Hermosa Construction Group of Atlanta to renovate the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) visitor center. As part of the project, the refuge plans to install a new roof and new flooring, make restrooms handicapped-accessible, and install a more energy-efficient heating and air conditioning unit.

“Our headquarters and visitors center was built in 1981, and was in need of renovations, including repairs to a leaking roof,” said Refuge Manager, Andrew Hammond. “We have a lot of school groups who visit this building for environmental education, as well as the general public, and they will be able to enjoy a much better facility when the improvements are completed.”

After renovations are complete, the Service will install new wildlife exhibits at the visitor center; the wildlife exhibits will be paid for with non-ARRA funds.

Piedmont NWR is located in Jones and Jasper Counties in central Georgia, approximately 25 miles north of Macon and 18 miles east of Forsyth. The refuge is open to the public year-round during daylight hours, and is home to protected wildlife, including the endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker.

In the early 1900s, the combined effects of farming, the Civil War, the boll weevil, and the Great Depression had severely degraded the wildlife habitat in the area. Piedmont NWR was established in 1939 as a “combination wildlife and game-management demonstration area” to show that wildlife could be restored on the worn out, eroded land. Today, through the efforts of the Service, the 35,000-acre forested wildlife refuge provides habitat to many of the species found in central Georgia. Native wildlife populations have been restored on the refuge, many in greater numbers than when settlers first arrived. Piedmont NWR now serves as a model for effective wildlife management in a forest ecosystem.

August 2011 Project Update: Hermosa Construction Group and its sub-contractor, John Willis Construction, completed the renovation of the Piedmont NWR visitor center in January 2011. The companies first corrected previously identified issues with the visitor center, including the leaking roof; inefficient HVAC; old windows, doors, flooring, walls, and electrical components; and leaking bathroom fixtures. The companies also replaced the decking on the front and back entrances. In addition to improving aesthetics, the project also resulted in cost savings — the HVAC and electrical upgrades have lowered the refuge’s electrical bills.

For more information: http://www.fws.gov/piedmont/

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Originally Posted 11/12/2010
Page Completed 08/11/2011