Christus Gardens, a 47-year landmark located in the heart of Gatlinburg, will cease operations and if a pending sale of the property goes through, redevelopment of the land could begin in 2008.
Millions of people have visited the attraction which dramatically portrays the life and death of Jesus Christ, but 71-year-old Ronald Ligon of Franklin, Tenn., who conceived and built Christus Gardens, said that due to his age, poor health, and a lack of interest among family members to continue operations, he made the decision early last year to sell the property. "I think it's best to get some things worked out before something happens to me and I leave that responsibility to someone else," Ligon said.
As for the displays which include a six-ton marble carving of the face of Jesus, paintings depicting the parables of Jesus, and an heirloom Bible collection, Ligon said, "We will move it all into storage and hope that someone comes forward who will be interested in taking the business and moving it elsewhere. I've gotten too old to start over somewhere else."
Reminiscing about the business he opened Aug. 13, 1960, Ligon said he conceived the idea as a young man while undergoing treatment for tuberculosis. "I spent a lot of time on my back in the hospital, so I had a lot of time to think and plan, and I did that. After I got up and going I began looking for the right opportunity to present itself," said Ligon.
Originally, he planned to build the attraction in Florida, but after a visit to Gatlinburg during which he fell in love with the mountains, Ligon said he determined the mountains would be a good place for it although there weren't many other attractions or tourists. "Pigeon Forge was nothing but farmland; I've often said that I made a mistake in building Christus Gardens. I should have bought Pigeon Forge instead," he said, while laughing. Being the first outsider to come in and try to buy land, Ligon said most folks wouldn't sell to him.
"I paid $150,000 for (the land Christus Gardens occupies), and I was told then that it was the highest price ever paid for a piece of land in Sevier County. People laughed at me then, but those same people today would say that I stole the land. ... It's been a wonderful 50 years; I've made a lot of good friends out of it ... a lot of my friends have gone on now," he said.
During the years that Ligon planned Christus Gardens, he said he traveled widely in Europe in search of displays and stumbled upon the "biggest and best" display in the attraction; the marble carving of Jesus' face.
"I met a man in Italy who owned a quarry, and he remembered that before World War II someone had commissioned this concave face of Christ carved from marble, but World War II had ended that commission. He took me deep into this back room where this huge thing was buried beneath all these things piled on it. When they pulled the covers off, I felt very fortunate to be able to obtain this thing - it ended up being one of the most popular things at Christus Gardens."
While Christus Gardens had good attendance every year, Ligon said, "Attendance probably is not as much as it was in the earlier days, but back then about the only two attractions in town were the chair lift and us; there was no Dollywood or anything else, so the competition was not there. The most visitation we had in any one year was about 200,000 to 250,000."
Ligon said he has felt fortunate that he had the support of the community in his business. "When we've had marketing surveys, we've found that word of mouth has always been the number one way people found us. We feel that a lot of folks in the county and the community recommended that people come see us and we always appreciated it."Asked if he feels sad about closing Christus Gardens, Ligon struggled to compose himself, then said, "When you've done something this long, it's like it's another child. Yes, I do feel sad about it."
I am sadden to hear that you will be closing. I remember when I was only 10 my parents took me there and I have never forgotten the face of Jesus on the stone. I took my husband last year to see it. He had been going to Pigeon Forge for over 20 years and had never seen it. He loved it and then we told his brother and his wife,the next trip down we took them to see it. I carried my mother,sister and my sister-in-law down the following year after that so they could see it also. It has a lot of memories for me and all that have been able to see it.
I wish you the best and I hope that someone will be able to display these wonderful items again for the people to see.
Sincerely,
Louise Eatman-Smith
Just wanted to say we visited Christus Gardens several years ago when our children were small and enjoyed it so much. We visit Gatlinburg every year, usally several times and remember visiting it every time we pass. So sad that there isn't someone to carry on the wonderful place to visit. This is happening to so many places. Our favorite place to stay in Pigeon Forge now has a big restaurant on it. Sometimes progress is good, sometimes not so good. May the Lord bless the man who had this built for his faithfulness in service our Lord.
I visited Christus Gardens when I was a small child. It made a great impact on my life. It made me feel as if I had been with Jesus . I felt as if Jesus was looking right at me in the garden... It was a great experience and one I will never forget.....
I regret Christus Gardens is closing and I will miss it very much when I come to Gatlinburg. This was a beautiful location and you could almost feel God's presence there. I hope and pray that someone will come forward and start another Christus Gardens in the area.
Please reconsider closing this extraordinary display of Christian love. I took my small children for the first time last Easter weekend and they were agast at the museum. I never dreamed they would have been so captivated by it. They, to this day, still speak of the experience. My parents took me as a child, one time, and I still, as an adult, remember it and wanted my children to experience this one of a kind place. We go to church on a regular basis but this just seems to bring all those stories we read and talk about come to life. I hope a donor may come forward or at least move it to a Pigeon Forge location where it may have more traffic. I can think of several things in Pigeon Forge I would like to see removed, but I do not have the money or backing to assist. The only thing I can do is just pray and hope this one-of-a-kind place does not shut its doors for good. If it is shut down, what will become of the art and artifacts throughout the museum?
I would hope someone would come forward to purchase the items & set up a new site to visit them at. What about Dolly Parton? Has anyone contacted her about making it a part of Dollywood or another area near by? It would be a shame to have all this just sitting in storage somewhere. Please somebody consider taking this over. Thank you.