Garner Visitor Center
The William Carl Garner Visitor Center at Greers Ferry Lake is named in his honor and is operated by Lyon College. Donna Glascock, the center's administrator, operates the facility under a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Carl Garner of Tumbling Shoals, AR retired in 1996 after 58 years as an employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was one of the longest consecutive serving federal employees in the nation's history.
Garner began his career with the Army Corps of Engineers on June 16, 1938, following his graduation from Arkansas College (now Lyon College). His early career placed him at Bull Shoals Lake in northern Arkansas. On March 15, 1959, he was assigned to the new project at Greers Ferry Lake as a supervisor for Construction Management Engineering.
"Greers Ferry Lake would become Carl Garner's life's work, and today you cannot mention one without mentioning the other," said then-Sen. David Pryor upon Garner's retirement. "On October 14, 1962, Carl was named Resident Engineer for Greers Ferry Lake, and has held that title for 34 years. On October 3, 1963, President John F. Kennedy dedicated the last public works project of his life and short presidency on a hillside overlooking the dam at Greers Ferry Lake. Carl Garner stood on the podium with the President on that occasion.
"Carl Garner had a vision," Sen. Pryor said. "He was an environmentalist long before the word became common in our vernacular. Carl's vision was that Greers Ferry Lake should be pollution free and should reflect the natural beauty and landscape of the region. Greers Ferry Lake should be a model for the nation, and today, it is the pearl in our nation's inventory of multiple purpose man-made lakes."
For More Information
- Donna Glascock, Administrator, William Carl Garner Visitor Center, Greers Ferry Lake, Telephone: 870.307.7314