Infantry Museum Opens

The National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning is officially open. The ceremony and ribbon-cutting in west Georgia Friday morning was bolstered by some star power--retired four-star General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke at the event.

The focal point of the $100-million project is the museum honoring the 234-year history of the U.S. Army Infantry. Also included at the complex is Patriot Park, with markers honoring the fallen.

The Infantry Museum has extended hours this opening weekend, from 9am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Museum Could Bring Jobs and Millions

A study projects that Columbus might get an annual $26.3 million economic boost with the opening of the new National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning. The Columbus State University study projects between 380,000 and 400,000 museum visitors a year, 95 percent of them from out of town. The study concludes that 520 jobs will be created through employment at the museum and other new businesses in the city that hire staff, and existing businesses that add employees to take advantage of the increase in tourism. The $91 million museum, which will be opened Friday with a visit by retired Gen. Colin Powell, is expected to benefit the south Columbus area, which for years has been a center for nightclubs and cheap motels.

(Associated Press)