By BRANDI WATTERS

ALEXANDRIA — A new tourist attraction in Alexandria could attract 1,000 people a day, according to Mayor Jack Woods.

Woods is spear-heading an effort to turn the small city into a tourist destination with a three-part plan that includes controlling train traffic, getting federal funding for a gospel museum and auditorium, and reclaiming Alexandria’s title as “Small Town U.S.A.”

On Tuesday, Woods is scheduled to meet with U.S. Rep. Mike Pence in Washington, D.C., to discuss congressional earmarks for the project.

Woods and a group of private investors are seeking to use the fame of gospel celebrities Bill and Gloria Gaither to turn Alexandria into gospel’s hometown.

At the start of the year, the city hired Mary Starkey to draft a proposal for a congressional earmark to fund the construction of a museum and an auditorium titled “The American Gospel Music Experience.”

The auditorium will seat 750 people and the museum is designed to be interactive, to chronicle the history of gospel music in America. Woods hopes the auditorium will draw gospel music stars to perform concerts in Alexandria. It will also be used for worship service.

Woods says the proposal is inspired by the Gaithers, but the Gaithers will have little to do with the federally funded attractions. “It’s not a Gaither project. It’s something the city is trying to get federal funding on Gaither property.”

If funding is secured, Woods said, the Gaithers will donate a parcel of land directly south of the Gaither Family Resources on Indiana 9 to serve as the location for the new attraction.

The total amount requested in the city’s proposal is $12.25 million.

Starkey, who served as the executive director for the Corporation for Economic Development in Anderson, worries about Pence’s willingness to lobby for the funding. “I think it's very unfortunate that Congressman Pence made an announcement that he was not supporting congressional earmarks because Indiana gets so few congressional earmarks.”

Other aspects of the gospel attraction include the Gaithers’ plans to expand their current business and invest in a hotel to be located near the auditorium.

Neil Johnson, an Alexandria businessman, says a small group of investors is being formed. “What we’re proposing is, there is a corporation which we form with up to 35 shareholders.”

Johnson said another $4 million to $6 million will be invested privately in addition to federal dollars toward the expansion of the Gaithers’ current attractions and the construction of a 50- to 75-room hotel.