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Troup County hosted a ribbon cutting for the beautiful new Oakfuskee Conservation Center on Friday after dedicating months of tireless work to the facility.

The $3 million 25,000-square-foot facility will be able to accommodate over 300 guests and will be open to the public for booking community and private events. In fact, it was already in use Friday night. 

The center is committed to environmental stewardship and county officials believe it will be one of the most impressive event spaces in the Southeast for weddings, corporate functions, celebrations, family reunions, fishing tournaments, outdoor events and more.

With funding from state and local organizations, the facility was able to receive nearly $2 million toward the construction of the project.

“The grant from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program, Conserve Georgia and the vision of the Callaway Foundation were instrumental in providing substantial funding for Oakfuskee Conservation Center,” County Manager Eric Mosley said. “We are extremely proud of the facility and look forward to showcasing it to the public.” 

Patrick Crews, Troup County Commission chairman, anticipates that the facility will be able to turn over a profit within the next year due to the high volume of bookings that have been made so far. 

“With this center, we can host many different types of events out there and draw people to our lake,” Crews said. “We now already have over 40 events booked at the Oakfuskee Conservation Center.”

Along with bringing in vast amounts of tourism and attention to Troup County, the facility will also serve as an educational opportunity for local students as the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper will now be located in the center. 

In addition to working on the new facility, the county has also been working on reviving trails running through Pyne Road Park. Local mountain biker Daniel Price worked closely with the county to help bring the trails back to life for mountain biking and horseback riding. 

“We pulled everybody in together, and we’ve been able to work to enhance the trail system and add a lot of improvements to it,” Crews said. “I wasn’t sure in the beginning how horses and bicycles would interact with each other, but Daniel helped to create a great opportunity for mountain biking while improving the horse trails.”

In the near future, Crews said the county plans to add additional amenities to the facility including creating lodging accommodations, an outdoor amphitheater, a new dock, and much more. 

“We hope that the local citizens will be able to use the facility as much as possible, and we hope Oakfuskee can directly enhance other recreational opportunities as well,” Crews said.