Travelers along Highway 45 North will see a brand new sign welcoming visitors to the Columbus Air Force base.
The sign was unveiled during a Tuesday morning ceremony. Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce President Joey Bragg said the sign is the result of community donations for a $25,000 fundraising drive that finished earlier in the month.
“When we started out on this sign project we were really just hoping the community would get involved and show our support of the base,” Bragg said. “We were just dumbfounded at how fast this came through.”
Bragg said fundraising started at the end of February. He said the Chamber had collected the needed funds by the beginning of May.
The sign replaces an old sign, which Bragg said had stood since 1999. The new sign is 16 feet tall and 12 feet wide — twice as tall and four feet wider than the old one. It uses LED backlighting, which Bragg said should be easier to maintain than the incandescent bulbs in the old sign.
Bragg also noted the sign should hold up better through the years than the old one, which grew faded.
Col. John Nichols, Wing Commander of CAFB’s 14th Flying Training Wing, said the sign project came together because of the community’s support for the base.
During Base Community Council meeting last week, Nichols said it’s important for CAFB and the surrounding community to continue to work together. He said the sign project is one instance of such cooperation.
“There are lots of examples, and this is one of many, of our community supporting the base,” he said. “We support our community. It’s a give and take. It’s a relationship. This relationship is strong, and we’re proud of it.”
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said the base is an important part of the community, and it’s good to see the community banding together on a project to support it.
“The Columbus Air Force Base is an asset not only to the city of Columbus, but to Lowndes County,” Smith said, “especially for the economic impact it brings to Columbus, the amount of jobs it provides to the citizens of Lowndes County and to the employees on the base.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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