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The city of Alexandria is in the process of trying to revitalize its community.

The proposed plan: use gospel music.

“We’d like to make Alexandria a destination point for the gospel music experience,” Neal Johnson, a local businessman, said. “So we came up with the idea ‘let’s see if we can get a government grant’ for this library of gospel music.”

Alexandria is the home of Grammy-award winning gospel performer Bill Gaither. His company, Gaither Management Inc., is located there. According to Johnson, the plan is to use the land behind the current studio and facilities to create something called the American Gospel Music Experience. If the proposal is accepted and they are given the necessary funds, the project would be conducted in three phases. Phase one would be the construction of a gospel library, museum and theater. Phase two would include a motel and walking trails on the grounds. Phase three would be building more various gospel-related facilities. One such idea for these facilities includes a music school.

“We feel like it would be a huge economic factor for the city of Alexandria, for Madison County, for the state of Indiana,” Johnson said. “We’ve talked to the tourism, we’ve talked to the state Chamber of Commerce, we’ve talked to state officials and federal officials. And they feel like this would be a very, very worthwhile project.

Johnson is also a friend of Bill Gaither and his wife, Gloria. He says that the idea came up through several discussions with Gaither, and expanded into trying to make it a reality.

“This is his [Bill Gaither’s] whole legacy,” Johnson said. “He wants gospel music to be shown and be heard from all different aspects.”

Gaither says that this idea would help the community of Alexandria.

“I’m excited about it, and I think that our town could use a boost,” Gaither said. “At my age, I don’t think I would’ve done it on my own, but a lot of good business folks here said ‘hey, let’s try to help you and get this off the ground.’ We’ve got a lot of them around here. But we’re at the place where we needed some extra help. But as far as the interest in the music, people are already stopping by here. There’s not that much to see yet, but hopefully one of these days there will be something for them to see. They do enjoy the studio, and obviously there’s a lot of history that’s happened here and I’d like to see it happen.”

According to Johnson, the feedback about the proposal from the community has been positive.

“It’s been tremendous, from all over,” Johnson said. “I mean, they stop you on the streets, they ask you about it. I’ve never heard so much enthusiasm. We’re very fortunate to have people like that. They’re thinking now we’ve got to do something, and this is the time to do it.”

According to Johnson, they will not know if the proposal will be funded by the government until September. If they get approval, they plan to begin construction right away.