Fort Gordon leadership ready to lead Fort Eisenhower following dress rehearsal

Fort Gordon is ready for its renaming.

On Wednesday, media was invited out to watch a dress rehearsal of the ceremony. Fort Gordon leadership practiced casing the garrison colors, officially retiring the current name and replacing it with Fort Eisenhower — the last of nine military installations renamed under a congressional authorization to remove the names of confederates.

"This is a historical moment not only for Fort Gordon, soon to be Fort Eisenhower, and the CSRA, but also for the Army," said Garrison Commander Col. Reggie Evans after two run-throughs of the ceremony.

The new name honors former president and general Dwight D. Eisenhower, who enjoyed vacationing in the Augusta area and playing golf at the Augusta National, and conducted his final troop review as president at Fort Gordon. The fort is currently named for Confederate Gen. John Brown Gordon.

"President Eisenhower as the 34th President of the United States back in 1961, he gave his last address to troops here on Barton Field," where the renaming ceremony will take place, Evans said. "... I got goosebumps as I got to thinking about it."

Eisenhower came as a suggestion out of meetings between the naming commission and representatives of the Augusta area community. Evans said the command has been planning this for about six months, and that signs, such as on the water towers, began to change over about two months ago.

"It's been a lot of fun," he said. "A lot of work, but a lot of fun."

The changeover was estimated to cost somewhere over $1.5 million, Evans said, but while it is not finalized he said the actual implementation will be under that.

The initial planning began when the new name was authorized last year, according to Capt. Rebecca Harr, and all changes must be complete by Jan. 1.

"It's been really a team effort, a lot of different organizations involved, and just routine planning, weekly, monthly meetings," Harr said.

Confederate reminders: As Fort Eisenhower becomes official, Augusta Confederate names stay in place

Azalea and Overlord: Fort Gordon, soon Eisenhower, locations get new names

As for community feedback, Harr said it has largely been positive.

"We've had some sparse negative feedback, comments when we've posted updates, but the community at large, I'm going to be honest, has been very supportive of the name change," she said.

Special guests for the ceremony will include the Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Susan Eisenhower, President Eisenhower's granddaughter.

"This is a once in a lifetime event," Evans said. "... This will definitely be the highlight of my career."

The ceremony is not open to the public but can be livestreamed 10 a.m. Friday at www.dvidshub.net/webcast/33049.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Leadership ready for Fort Gordon to become Fort Eisenhower