Press/Journalists

National Archives to Host Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Southeast Regional Archives Facility
Press Release · Monday, August 12, 2002

Washington, DC

Archivist of the United States John W. Carlin, Clayton College and State University President Thomas Harden, Senator Max Cleland, Congressman Mac Collins, Georgia State Senator Terrell Starr, and Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Southeast Regional Archives facility, located adjacent to the campus of Clayton College and State University in Morrow, GA. The ceremony will take place on Monday, August 26, at 10:30 a.m. and is open to the media.

The 114,600 square foot facility, will be one of the largest such facilities in the country with a storage capacity of 230,000 cubic feet. It is scheduled to open in summer 2004. It will replace the National Archives' current archival facility in East Point, GA, which was originally constructed as a World War II-era Military Supply Depot.

The Southeast Regional Archives houses more than 80,000 cubic feet of records, which date from 1716 through the 1980s. This makes the Southeast Region one of the largest regional archives in NARA's nationwide system. All of these records were either created or received by Federal courts or agencies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The holdings include archival materials of great historical significance, such as the records of the Kennedy and Marshall Space Flight Centers, Centers for Disease Control, the Oak Ridge and Savannah River facilities of the Department of Energy, and Selective Service System.

"The development of this state-of-the-art facility has been many years in the making and we are truly excited about its possibilities," said Carlin. "Not only will our nation's historically important regional records be preserved in an appropriate storage environment, but we are pleased that our partnership with the Georgia Department of Archives and History and Clayton College and State University will provide improved records access and the expansion of public programs and professional development opportunities at all three facilities."

The $28 million National Archives building, along with the new Georgia Department of Archives and History facility will make up a 19 acre archives complex, the first of its kind in the country. A Visitor Learning/Welcome Center and amphitheater will serve as additional unifying features and amenities on the site. Public spaces in the National Archives facility include a large multi-functional reception/lobby space that will house displays and serve as a "check-in" point for researchers. A tri-part training wing will provide staff, the public, and university students with meeting space accommodating from 100 to 350 people at a time. The facility will contain a visitor's lounge and dining room and a catering kitchen.

The heart of the building will be the research wing. Researchers will have access to a Finding Aids Room, Microfilm Research Room, and Textual Reference Room. The Microfilm Research Room, used most heavily by genealogists, will house up to 60 microfilm readers and 66 film cabinets as well as microfiche readers and copy stations. The research wing includes telecommunications capacity allowing researchers to search the Archives' new online catalog and to access the future Electronic Records Archives.

DIRECTIONS TO CEREMONY: From 1-75 SOUTH, take the GA-54 exit (exit 233) towards MORROW/JONESBORO. Keep LEFT at the fork in the ramp. Turn LEFT onto GA-54/JONESBORO RD. Turn RIGHT onto HARPER DRIVE and follow signs to event parking.

For PRESS information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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