Tennessee
Sleepy John Estes House, Brownsville: the residence of blues legend John Estes houses photographs and biographies of the area. Other famous Brownsville names include Tina Turner and Alex Harvey. Visitors can listen to tapes on site at the residence.
The Dyersburg Museum of Magic and History: opening on July 1, the museum commemorates the life and work of world-famous clown Emmett Kelley, who was born in Dyersburg.
Peabody Place Museum and Gallery: featuring rare collections of Chinese art from the Manchu Dynasty, 1644-1911.
James D Vaughan Southern Gospel Music Museum, Lawrenceburg: opening this summer, the museum is dedicated to the Father of Southern Gospel Music.
Cheekwood: Nashville’s home of arts and gardens has undergone a $17m renovation and improvement programme. New features include a Woodland Sculpture Trail garden and seven galleries which were previously stables.
Cherokee Removal Memorial Park, Meigs County: first phase includes walking trails; others will take in a library and nature reserve.
Volunteer Landing complex, Knoxville: $40m riverfront improvement including a riverside park, restaurants and marina.
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Knoxville: opening in June.
Southern Gospel Hall of Fame and Museum: opened last week at Dollywood Entertainment Park, Pigeon Forge.
South Carolina
South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston: the $40m, four-storey living marine science museum adjacent to Charleston harbour will be completed in December.
Caw Caw Interpretive Centre, Charleston: a 643-acre park, previously a tea farm, focuses on Charleston’s natural, historical and cultural heritage. It will open in the autumn.
The Wren House: in South Carolina’s Up-country Region and described as a Southern living showcase home featuring the works of 50 of the state’s artists and crafts people.
Cresent Mountain Vineyards: part of a 129-acre project including a winery, French chalet-style village, concert pavilion and country inn located in northern Greenville County.
The State House, Columbia: recently reopened after a multi-million-dollar renovation. Tours are offered daily.
Kentucky
Kentucky History Centre, Frankfort: this month saw the opening of the $26m Kentucky History Centre, which is the home of the Kentucky Historical Society and a 167,000sq ft facility featuring the state’s past.
Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium: located on the banks of the Ohio River in northern Kentucky, the aquarium opens on May 26 following a $40m construction programme. It will have viewing tanks and underwater tunnels.
Louisville Slugger Baseball Stadium: due to be completed in 2000.
Muhammad Ali Museum: opening date to be finalised soon.
Caesars: a $275m riverboat gaming project has opened 15 miles southwest of Louisville and is due to add a 500-room hotel in 2000, as well as a collection of shops, restaurants and a golf school to complement an 18-hole golf course planned on a site some eight miles away.
The Speed Art Museum: Kentucky’s oldest museum in Louisville has undergone a $12m renovation that now includes an interactive art-study centre.
Louisiana
Jazzland: $100m theme park to open near New Orleans in spring 2000 featuring 32 rides. Other features include a Jazz Plaza, water shows at Pontchartrain Beach, Children’s Area and Mardi Gras section. Sunset at Jazzland marks a nightly parade of marching bands, performers and Mardi Gras floats.
Spice Inc: New Orleans’ newest cooking school located in the city’s Warehouse District and also offering a gourmet retail market.
The Audubon Living Science Museum, New Orleans: opens later this year at the Custom House on Canal Street.
Louisiana Arts Guild: scheduled to open to the public in 2000 at the Warehouse Arts District and featuring the works of the state’s top visual artists.
New Orleans Ports Arena: staging basketball and ice hockey as well as a centre for up to 20,000 people for concerts. Directly across from the Louisiana Superdome on Girod Street.
FrancoFete ’99: Louisiana’s year-long tricentennial celebrations marking 300 years of French influence in the state. More than 500 fairs, festivals and other special events are taking place, including an exhibition called ‘Degas and New Orleans – a French Impressionist Painter in America’, held at the New Orleans Museum of Art, May 1-August 31.
Georgia
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame: opens next week in downtown Macon across the street from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
Treasures Along I-20: new theme trails featuring the old Southern communities of Covington, Social, Circle, Rutledge and Madison.
Melhana Plantation, near Thomasville: 1820s mansion has reopened to the public as the Grand Plantation Resort featuring historic buildings, formal gardens and pink plantation house.
The National Prisoner of War Museum: opened on April 9 at the Andersville National Historic Site highlighting prisoners’ story of human spirit, courage and resilience.
Georgia Hall of Fame, Augusta: 17-acre attraction located along Augusta’s Riverwalk area featuring interactive exhibits, a museum and Greatest Moments in Golf theatre.
Alabama
Gulf Coast Exploreum Museum of Science, Mobile: 65,000sq ft of hands-on science exhibits and an IMAX dome theatre.
Hank Williams Museum, Montgomery: opened recently at the city’s Union Station featuring memorabilia of the country music legend who was born in Georgiana, Alabama. Exhibits include art, clothes and guitars.
Huntsville Museum of Arts: relocated to Big Spring Park in the heart of the city.
VisionLand: new theme and water park near Birmingham, based on the history of the city’s contribution to the US story of manufacturing and technology. Includes 20 rides and a giant rollercoaster.
McWane Centre: Birmingham’s historic Loveman’s department store has been turned into a $40m Adventures in Science complex.
Mercedes-Benz Visitor Centre: located halfway between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, the complex includes a 24,000sq ft museum featuring the company’s past developments and future plans. Factory tours are also available.