The federal shutdown has come to an end and many national monuments will re-open Thursday, including Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park off Emery Highway in Macon.
The national monument site opened its gates Thursday morning to visitors. And it is back on the regular schedule.
It's the first time it's been open, since they furloughed staff 16 days ago.
"I've got a very dedicated staff, who very much enjoy the work they do here as far as preservation and they very much enjoy talking, explaining and welcoming the visitor and so they've been very disappointed to not be able to do that the past couple of weeks," said Jim David.
Park Superintendent, Jim David says they got a heads-up Wednesday night that they should prepare to come back to work Thursday.
"Everybody is very happy I mean admittedly we have all been getting things done around the house that we hadn't planned on doing but everybody is very pleased to get back to preserving this site, helping the visitor," said Jim David, park superintendent.
Other federal facilities were returning to normal Thursday.
The Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, closed since last week, also opened its doors to visitors.
And the public affairs of Robins Air Force Base also said they were resuming normal operations.
The base released this statement Thursday:
Robins returns to normal operations
Robins Air Force Base, Ga. - With the end of the 16-day government shutdown, 'normal operations' have resumed here.
The doors of the Museum of Aviation and other base activities which were temporarily closed are now open. Additionally, community outreach events such as tours have restarted.
"Our entire team is back at work providing world-class warfighter support," said Col. Chris Hill, installation commander.
"Thanks to our great community for their support through this uncertain time," he added.
At one point during the shutdown, more than 4,000 base employees were furloughed. The legislation which ended the shutdown allows for those employees to receive back pay.
