A Macon leader had a clear message for the audience at a “Politically Georgia” live show in the city: make the Ocmulgee Mounds the state’s first national park.

“This is legitimately a way that we reimagine the economy for the next generation in Middle Georgia,” Seth Clark, Macon’s mayor pro tem, told the audience Thursday night at Capitol Theatre in Macon.

Georgia’s congressional delegation introduced a measure earlier this month seeking designation of the site after a decades-long fight.

U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott are the lead sponsors of the measure.

Every member of the state’s congressional delegation has joined the effort except for Republican U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde.

“They’re going to create a national park this year, I have faith in it,” Clark said.

If the measure passes, it would more than double the footprint of the roughly 2,800-acre Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, a feat that could increase tourism and give Middle Georgia an economic boom.

“It’s much more than a conservation project,” Clark said. “This is how we take care of ourselves.”

Monday on “Politically Georgia”: The hosts recap a busy weekend with President Joe Biden speaking Sunday at Morehouse College’s commencement and the Georgia GOP convention in Columbus.

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