(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray today announced that she has secured both congressional authorization and a half-million dollar appropriation for the Clarkston Confluence Interpretive Center. Senator Murray originally included the authorization to the Senate version of the Energy and Water appropriations bill. She added the $500,000 in funding to the bill during a House-Senate conference on the legislation. The bill passed out of conference today.
Senator Murray is a member of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee and was a member of the conference committee.
The Confluence Interpretive Center, to be located at the meeting of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, will house a permanent Lewis and Clark exhibit as well as traveling exhibits and displays on regional culture and history. Maya Lin, the famed Vietnam War Memorial artist, is planning on locating a piece of interpretive art on the site. This will be one of six sites along the Columbia River basin that will hold Maya Lin pieces honoring the tribes and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The land in Clarkston is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers making the authorization necessary.
“I am proud to have made this possible,” Senator Murray said. “The local community has worked hard to make the Clarkston Lewis and Clark Bicentennial a success for both visitors and for the region’s economy. Clarkston has a rich story to tell, and I am pleased it will be heard by visitors from across the country.”
Local partners including the City of Clarkston, Asotin County and the Port of Clarkston have contributed funds toward the Center’s construction, but work can not begin without Congressional authorization.
The Energy and Water conference report will now go to the House and Senate for final passage before being sent on to the President for his signature.
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