Cumberland Mountain State Park officials are moving forward with a plan to reopen and expand programming at the historic Homestead Tower after its recent addition to the state park system.
Park Manager Mark Houston said the plan is to reopen the tower on April 1. Houston said the park plans to keep the tower accessible seasonally, with intentions to build on what visitors already know.
“We are trying to go at it like we run our seasonal operations here,” Houston said. “We will beautify the place and keep it up. We had Christmas lights on it this past winter. We are just trying to keep it. It’s just an entity and another part of the park, the way I look at it.”
Houston said the park plans to have Homestead Tower Museum Manager Ren Sexton and other tower historians engage with visitors. Houston said visitors will no longer have to pay to visit the tower, and can expect to return some old tower traditions.
“They will program in the park doing things for families, and what we will do on that aspect is we will do living history tours,” Houston said. “We will do all kinds of events. I do plan on having the Homestead Tower Association always have had what was called the Apple Festival, and that was always the third Saturday in September, so I do plan on keeping that in a sense.”
Houston said maintaining the historic structure will come with challenges, but the park is committed to making necessary improvements while preserving its character.
“You know, whenever you’re taking over something new, and you’ve got a historical facility like that, you know you’re going to have challenges trying to keep it where it’s period history,” Houston said. “We will do some upgrades… but it’s all about keeping it where it looks natural.”
Houston said the addition of the tower makes Cumberland Mountain State Park complete. Houston said the story behind the tower is a beacon of the Cumberland Homestead.
“We’ve always promoted the Homestead Tower as much as they probably promoted us,” Houston said. “You go in both of these facilities, whether it’s the visitor center or the tower itself, and you will see the most iconic feature that was built by the CCC was the seven-arch bridge that we have here. So you would see those, and then in our museum, you would see a picture of the tower. So that marriage is something that I say has been around a long time. It’s just, now it’s going to have more of a spotlight on it.”
Houston said he hopes the state can continue telling the story of the tower and that it remains a facility the community can be proud of. Houston also noted the park has taken over the Crebtree house, which will continue to serve as the Homestead Tower Museum.