Fort Knox barracks restorers seeking more donors

Retired Col. Mike Weaver, a former state legislator for Hardin County, hopes to have the last surviving World War II barracks at Fort Knox restored and open to the public by June of next year, but he said he needs more money to finish the project.

Marty Finley

Retired Col. Mike Weaver spoke Wednesday to the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau and the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations about the need for donations to restore the last surviving World War II barracks at Fort Knox. Weaver holds an oak board taken from the barracks during a presentation at American Legion Post 113 in Elizabethtown.

Buy this photo

Weaver, project manager of the restoration, lobbied the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau and the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations Wednesday to assist financially. He said he has raised around $50,000 in donations so far, which includes a $25,000 gift from the Radcliff and Fort Knox Tourism and Convention Commission and a $10,000 private donation from World War II veteran and local businessman Bill Swope.

Weaver has raised an additional $14,000 by asking for $200 sponsorships from veterans, politicians, business leaders and organizations for a November fundraiser at the Patton Museum, where the barracks now reside. Because the project is important for the entire region, he believes it is imperative to have as many people financially invested as possible.

Organizers are selling commemorative pavers for the project, too. JECVO purchased a brick on Tuesday during its meeting.

“We will do a $500,000 restoration with less than $100,000,” Weaver told the ETCB.

Tourism officials are sending Weaver’s request to a special events committee for review. The committee meets later this month.

Exuding passion for the project, Weaver carried an oak board he pulled from the barracks and personally cleaned to both presentations.

He said the footsteps of soldiers who changed the course of history and fought valiantly to preserve America line those weathered steps and he can practically hear their voices bouncing off the walls when he steps inside.

Whether they were trapped in the Bataan Death March or fought in the Normandy invasion, their stories are preserved in the structure.

“That’s what makes this such a part of history,” he said.

Weaver has served 15 years on the Patton Museum Foundation, which had been working for years to save a barracks on post. Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, former Fort Knox commander, approached museum officials about restoring a barracks with federal money, but when estimates came in at $750,000, Freakley said the money was not available.

Weaver said he asked that it simply be moved to the Patton Museum, where project organizers would refurbish it with volunteer labor and donations.

He has worked with Bluegrass Challenge Academy cadets, Hardin County Detention Center crews and Deputy Jailer Dean Dailey to clear debris and the mess made by animals who ransacked inside.

“What they left behind was somewhat disgusting,” he said.

Weaver also has had lead-based paint removed and stripped the barracks of all vinyl siding, insulation, drywall and other modern additions. He is waiting on a donation of windows so they can be installed, he said.

Weaver said the second floor of the barracks will be restricted to public use because it would need an elevator for access, which is an amenity unbecoming of the restoration.

“You don’t want an elevator in a World War II building,” he said.

But Weaver does plan to install a wheelchair ramp to provide access for handicapped visitors and a virtual reality element to augment tours of the structure.

Weaver estimates as many as 1,500 structures like the barracks were on post during World War II and more than 900 were still around as of a 1992 census, 800 of which were likely barracks. He said the artifacts and history lost in the demolitions is “unconscionable.”

If project organizers had been a few months slower in taking on the project, he said, it likely would have been demolished.

“I think we are extremely lucky to get this old barracks,” he said.

Sherry Murphy, ETCB director, complimented the quality of the restoration and its potential to enhance the community’s historical outreach.

“It’s going to be a huge addition to the Patton Museum,” she said.

In other tourism business:

• Elizabethtown Events Coordinator Sarah Vaughn said preliminary estimates show the city sold around 900 general admission tickets and 250 VIP tickets for Friday’s summer concert at Freeman Lake Park during a report to the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau. The turnout was low compared to previous concerts, which Vaughn attributed to rainy weather and the lack of a nationally recognized act. This year’s show featured tribute acts Absolute Queen, Toys in the Attic and Highway to Hell. When asked how many ticketholders attended the show, Vaughn placed the number between 600 and 800. Vaughn said the city will have time to regroup and plan ahead for next year’s show in hopes to attain a larger act, but she said she has an interest in smaller spinoff shows throughout the year as a companion to the summer concert series.

• ETCB Executive Director Sherry Murphy said the Elizabethtown Sports Park has attracted more than 300 teams, more than 4,500 participants and more than 17,000 visitors from its mid-July opening to the end of September. Murphy estimated the economic impact locally from the park is $2.55 million to date. Tourism Commissioner Chris Flanagan, who owns the local Chick-fil-A, said he has seen a significant boost from Sports Park traffic during weekends and said the restaurant tax fund has grown since the park opened.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.