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The long-anticipated grand opening of the Oakfuskee Conservation Center is set for next week. 

Troup County will host a ribbon cutting at the new lakeside event center located inside Pyne Road Park on Friday, Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. 

The venue is set to host public and private events and is the new home of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

The county is proud to announce the facility has been completed and is open for business. Everyone is invited to the grand opening on Friday to show off everything the beautiful venue has to offer. 

County Manager Eric Mosley said that finally getting the project to where the county can open the doors and share the venue with the community is a relief.

“It’s been a labor of love for most of us and we’re certainly excited to see it come to an end. The commissioners are certainly excited about the grand opening next Friday,” Mosley said.

The center looks to be on its way to success with a calendar that’s nearly filled up through the fall of 2024.

The Oakfuskee Center already has a dozen events on for December and its first wedding scheduled for New Year’s, Mosley said.

“We just recently booked two nationally televised fishing tournaments on West Point Lake that will be hosted at the Oakfuskee Conservation Center,” he said.

Mosley said the project started about 15 months ago and has mostly been on schedule. Getting power and water for the facility were the biggest barriers, he said.

“The two largest obstacles were the electrical switchgear, which is the equipment that we use to convert power from the main line into the building, and the other was the water line expansion from Pine Road all the way into the park,” Mosley said.

The City of LaGrange extended an existing 8-inch waterline located near the Dollar General at Pyne Road and Roanoke Road in partnership with the county to provide adequate water for the event center.

“Everything is done and right now they’re just basically working on the finishing touches next week. The final furniture delivery will arrive as well as some of the accessory items,” Mosley said, explaining that they commissioned local artists to provide various pieces that will be displayed throughout the building.

Mosley said the county plans to run the event facility like a business, which will hopefully provide funds to funnel back into Pyne Road Park.

The facility was also completed without having to use any property tax funds.

“We’ve been very blessed throughout the project to fund it primarily through SPLOST and grants. We’ve received federal money, state money and SPLOST money to help fund the project,” Mosley said.

“We believe within the very first year that we’ll actually turn a profit on the facility. We’re running Oakfuskee as a business, so the funding that’s generated will go right back into Pyne Road Park,” he said.