Update 2026-01-28: Amended Agenda: Removed Suwannee River Visitor Center @ GA-DNR Board of Natural Resources 2026-01-30.

Here is some more detail on the item to demolish the Suwannee River Visitors Center, on the agenda for the GA-DNR Board of Natural Resources, for this Friday, January 30, 2026, on St. Simons Island and livestreamed.

The Suwannee River Visitor Center has been unoccupied and closed for over a decade. The structure is now extensively deteriorated and occupied by a large colony of bats. The building has been subject to repeated vandalism and structural damage, resulting in unsafe conditions that render it unfit for public use or rehabilitation. Due to these ongoing issues, the facility represents a continuing safety risk and liability to staff, visitors, and the Department.

The Board of Natural Resources will meet at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center, 610 Beachview Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 31522, on Friday, January 30, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.

Live Stream Link:

https://usO6web.z0om.us/j/87169233576?pwd=4zEe9sRELWiGCHR8GIRny4d6liSkla.1

Meeting ID: 871 6923 3576
Passcode: 386825

Packet: Suwannee River Visitor Center unfit for public use or rehabilitation @ DNR Board of Natural Resources 2026-01-30

There is nothing in the board packet about rebuilding anything on the site.

The Visitor Center is at the entrance to Fargo Boat Ramp, in Fargo, Georgia, off of US 441. The Ramp would be unaffected, assuming they can contain the demolition debris. Fargo Ramp is the first publicly-owned Suwannee River access downstream

While that building has indeed been in dire straits for a decade or more, very few people seem to have been aware of this proposal to demolish it.

There is nothing about it in the minutes of the previous meeting of the Lands Committee nor of the minutes of the previous meeting of the Board Natural Resources.

This item comes directly from GA-DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon, like the other proposal to demolish, “Requesting approval via Executive Order to demolish the Red Top Mountain State Park well house, Bartow County.”

This is the agenda sheet for the Suwannee item: Continue reading →