Kentucky may take over at Wickliffe Mounds

WICKLIFFE, Ky. -- Kentucky's state park service would take over management of Wickliffe Mounds, an ancient American Indian burial site in western Kentucky, under an agreement being worked out with Murray State University, officials said Monday.

But Kit Wesler, an archaeology professor at Murray State University and director of the Wickliffe Mounds Research Center, said he's still waiting for a signed agreement only two days before the university is scheduled to close the center at Wickliffe because of budget cuts.

"Right now we are trying to work out ways to make sure we are open," he said. "My staff is wondering if they will miss a paycheck or two."

Budget problems prompted Murray State University at Murray, Ky., to decide earlier this year to close the Wickliffe Mounds Research Center at the end of this month. That prompted archaeologists, American Indians, schoolchildren and others to urge steps be taken to keep the center open. The center has been in limbo for about six months, Wesler said.

School officials said they had no choice but to cut out funding for the center because of a money crunch.

"It is strictly a budget cut," said Gary Brockway, vice president of academic affairs at Murray State. He estimated the university will save about $100,000 annually in salaries for two center employees and maintenance of the site by letting the state operate it.

The university's board of regents last week approved a plan that would have Kentucky's Commerce Cabinet, a state department, take over operation of the research center, Wesler said. Among other things, the Commerce Cabinet supervises tourism and state park operations in Kentucky.

"The nicest thing about this is we will still as a university have access to it for educational purposes," Brockway said.

The site also is regularly visited by schoolchildren in the region. That could continue if the state takes over operation of the center, Brockway said.

With the help of the state park service, he said, Wickliffe Mounds could be an even bigger tourist attraction.

Wesler said Wickliffe Mounds has provided archaeological and museum training for about 150 students over the past two decades. He wants to see that continue.

Under the agreement, Wesler no longer would direct the center but would continue to teach archaeology at Murray State University. The two full-time employees at the center would become employees of the state's parks service, Wesler said.

He hopes the proposed agreement proves a success. "It is important to protect the site," he said.

150,000 visitors

The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and is listed as Kentucky's first archaeological landmark, Wesler said. More than 150,000 people have visited the center over the past 20 years.

From about 1100 to 1350, the site was home to members of a Mississippian culture who farmed along the fertile river bottoms and built earthen mounds in their villages. They are now known as Mound Builders.

The population stood at about 300 at any one time. "It was nearly as big as Wickliffe is today," he said.

The Indian burial site first came to public attention through the efforts of Col. Fain King, who bought the land in the early 1930s. He and his wife, Blanche, unearthed hundreds of artifacts and skeletons.

They operated the site as a tourist attraction called the Ancient Burial City, charging admission of 25 cents a person.

Fain King donated the tourist attraction to a Paducah, Ky., hospital in 1946. In 1983, the hospital donated it to Murray State.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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