With no plans to view, Dillsboro residents against pavilion concept

By Rose Hooper

Town clerk Herb Nolan said the plans were in the hands of the architect, who was still working on them.

In absence of anything on paper, Nolan described the pavilion as a 24-foot-wide, 40-foot-long concrete slab building with metal posts and roof. It could hold 30 to 40 people and would be equipped with two small restrooms built to handicap specifications. He estimated the cost at about $20,000.

"That's the upfront cost; how much will it cost to maintain?" resident Emma Wertenberger asked the board. "Also, will someone have to be there during special times when it is reserved?"

Wertenberger also questioned whether the pavilion was the best use of the town's money.

"I feel like the town board needs to gather more information," she said.

Lera Chitwood agreed. "I think we need to do a needs assessment to see what the town really needs," she said. "The people should have a 'say so.'"

Tom Wertenberger's 'say so' was that he did not understand the use of the pavilion and "how it will benefit residents of Dillsboro. I think it is a lot of money spent for tourist-use only."

Dillsboro Inn owner T.J. Walker, whose business joins the town park, said, "In my location I see its use more than any other resident. The small number of people who use the park doesn't justify building a pavilion."

Walker added that he thought a building would detract from the natural layout of the river ecosystem. "In the past, some of us have offered to help with landscaping and shoreline restoration, but our services have not been utilized. But I am optimistic about the future administration."

As a business owner, Walker said he also had concerns about his bed and breakfast customers' "sight lines."

The lone person speaking in favor of the pavilion, Jim Dukes, chairman of the Jackson County Greenways Commission, called the idea of a pavilion "a logical node for a town."

Dukes, offering to help with design and grants, said an outdoor entertainment center is part of the greenways vision. The pavilion could be a "showpiece" of how the community can work together in the Greenways Project, he said. He discussed the possibility of linking the new Best Western hotel to the Dillsboro parks, which would "provide more users."

Nolan said he understood that funds were available through the state's Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to pay half the pavilion cost. He said he hoped to have Steve Eller with the Southwestern Commission write the grant, which Nolan told the board was due in January.

When several at the public hearing asked the board about particular action on the pavilion, Vice Mayor Reg Moody said the current board would not be the one to take action on the issue. "That will be up to the new board," he said.

Several in the audience then questioned why the current board was spending money for architectural design of a pavilion and for lawyer fees to research the property deed when the new board may not even approve the pavilion concept.

Back to Archive: 11/29/01.