A pair of park projects in Cayce that could boost local tourism continue to make progress, but remain in somewhat nebulous stages.

A visitor’s center for the 12,000 Year History Park, a city-owned amenity that comprises 350 acres and adjoins the Timmerman Trail and connects to the Cayce Riverwalk, continues through its planning phases, aided by a $1 million grant from the state that was announced in 2021.

Tracy Hegler, the city manager, told the Chronicle that the architecture firm Quackenbush, which is being managed in the project by nonprofit greenway shepherd The River Alliance, is nearly finished with architectural renderings for the center, the size of which was initially reported to be  3,600 square feet.

After completion of a topological survey, wetland delineation and archeological survey, the city is still awaiting approval from the Army Corps of Engineers for its letter of revision to the floodplain, which Hegler said takes months.

The next phase after that will be securing someone with a background in museum layout and programming to plan the interior of the space.

Hegler said that with the way things are going, she’d like to see shovels in the ground on the project in 18 months.

The hope with the center is to galvanize interest in what the city calls a unique archeological site, with visitors able to view evidence of “an array of inhabitants, including mammoths, Native American tribes and Civil War soldiers,” per the park’s website.

The city already offers weekly tours of the park led by National Park Service-trained guides, with a spring schedule of offerings having been announced last month.

“It’s going to tell the story,” Hegler said, explaining that the center will display artifacts from the area and give context for appreciating them. “It’s 12,000 years of history, so it’s gonna be such a great variety of how human habitation has changed in that area over that time.”

Hegler said that the $1 million grant should get the city to a shovel-ready place with the project, with the city having to look for other sources of funding to construct the center. When it was initially reported, the center was estimated to cost $2.8 million in total, though Hegler said the final amount remains up in the air, part of why the project is at a standstill when it comes to applying for further funding.

“I think it’s a dream grant project,” she said when asked what funding sources the city will look at for completing the center. “It’s good for [American Rescue Plan] dollars that are floating around right now for tourism inducement because that’s what we kind of need to get back to after COVID. So I think there are a lot of opportunities for funding a project like this one.”

Another enhancement that could benefit Cayce and local tourism in general is the expansion of the neighboring Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve that the state has been considering for more than a year.

The state has been looking at buying nearly 650 acres that neighbor the current nature preserve, roughly doubling its size to more than 1,200 acres.

The nonprofit land preservation group Open Space Institute bought the property for $7 million last year, with the intention being to sell it to the state for the same price, according to The State newspaper.

Stephen Fastenau, a spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources told the Chronicle that the agency is still doing due diligence on the potential purchase.

“There’s not a definitive timeframe, but it could be by late spring or early summer,” he said.

Hegler is excited about the possibility of having the upgraded 12,000 Year History Park and the expanded preserve as a dual draw to the city.

“I think they’re both unique assets, especially to be found within an urbanized city,” she said. “So to play them off of each other in terms of a full robust tourism attraction to this area — I don’t know what would be similar to it anywhere else.”