Dillsboro to study pavilion concept

By Rose Hooper

Waiting, said Mayor Jean Hartbarger, will allow the planning board and the parks and recreation committee time to study the issue and to make recommendations to the full board.

A public hearing was held in November on a proposed 24-foot-wide, 40-foot-long concrete building with metal posts and roof to be built in the town park on the Tuckaseigee River. The pavilion would hold 30 to 40 people and would be equipped with two small rest rooms built to handicap specifications.

Town clerk Herb Nolan estimated then that the project's cost would be about $20,000. Funds for half the project would be available from the state's Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, he said. At the hearing, residents objected to the concept since no plans or drawings of the pavilion were made available to the public.

"We need to do some planning, gather more information," said board member Emma Wertenberger, echoing other members' sentiment not to rush forward with the project.

Both the planning board and parks and recreation committee will look at the costs, not just for construction, but future upkeep. Hartbarger said the town board would then decide if the project is the best use of town money.

Dillsboro Inn owner T.J. Walker, whose business joins the town park, said earlier he thought the proposed pavilion would detract from the natural layout of the river ecosystem. Although he did not address the board during Monday night's meeting, afterwards Walker said he was pleased with the board's decision to study the project.

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