Medal of Honor Museum ahead of fundraising goal

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The Medal of Honor Heritage Center today announced it has
reached a major milestone in its agreement with River City Company to build the new Heritage Center.

They needed to raise more than $3 million by the end of the year.

They got it four months early, thanks to a $250,000 gift from Farrow Family Foundation and $100,00 from Mike and Amy Walden.

They now are about two thirds toward their final goal.

Retired Major General Bill Raines is chairman of the Advisory Board for the museum.

“We’re actually four months ahead of our schedule, and our benchmark requirement, and we’ve identified additional local donors, we’ve got statewide contributors identified, we’ve talked with some, we’ve gotten contributions from some and we’re getting ready to go national. We have a national program set up, people identified, we’ve given a package to, so we hope to raise the remaining funds in the very near future.”

The museum will be located at the former Visitors Center building in the Aquarium Plaza.

And they hope to open it in early 2020.

The Heritage Center will feature the stories of 20 Medal of Honor recipients, including the Andrews’ Raiders buried in Chattanooga, Desmond Doss, Charles Coolidge, Alvin York, Ray Duke, Paul Huff and Dr. Mary Walker (the only female recipient of the Medal).