[Nmcaver] Fw: [Texascavers] American Cave and Karst Center gets upgrade :

[Bill Bentley]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: JerryAtkin at aol.com 
To: Texascavers at texascavers.com 
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 11:33 PM
Subject: [Texascavers] American Cave and Karst Center gets upgrade :


Cave museum gets upgrade


By DOUG WATERS, The Daily News, dwaters at bgdailynews.com

Monday, November 27, 2006 11:45 AM CST

The American Cave and Karst Center in Horse Cave is planning a roughly $3 million renovation aimed at doubling visitor intake and showcasing the once beleaguered Hidden River Cave.

The project is in the early stages and will consist of renovation to historical buildings adjacent to the cave, said Peggy Nims, education director for the American Cave Conservation Association, which operates the center, also known as the American Cave Museum. It's located off Interstate 65's Exit 58.

“Literally, the buildings are sitting in the sinkhole entrance to the cave, which makes it unique,” Nims said.

Renovating the buildings, which are owned by the city of Horse Cave, will allow for more space for cave exhibits and a larger museum shop. The museum offers hands-on learning opportunities and an ecology tour for visitors, many of whom come in student groups. It draws about 20,000 visitors annually, she said.

The museum's expansion is linked to the comeback of the cave, which “is one of the great success stories of the area,” City Clerk Ann Matera said.

     
     

“It used to be polluted and dead, but now it's a living cave again,” Matera said.

The cave was dormant to visitors for 50 years due to pollution from fertilizer, pesticides and sewage dumped in sinkholes and caves in the region. However, an extensive cleanup project allowed the cave to become accessible again in 1993, Nims said.

And in 1999, the Caveland Environmental Authority launched a regional sewage system in partnership with Mammoth Cave National Park, the Environmental Protection Agency and three municipalities - Park City, Cave City and Horse Cave - to protect all the caves in the region from pollution.

“We're the cave that used to be the sewer,” Nims added.

     
     

Sandra Wilson, Horse Cave's Main Street program manager, said businesses avoided the city before the new sewer system, but now the city has more than 1,000 industrial jobs.

Wilson, who was on the city council when the regional sewer system was implemented, said the cave is directly under the city's streets.

“It's the only one like it in the hemisphere,” she said.

- For more information about the American Cave Museum, visit http://www.cavern.org/

     
     

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