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Editorials - 04/18/02

Dream of restored Hooper House has become reality
With the recent opening of downtown's historic Hooper House, new home of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Sylva Partners in Renewal, a dream has become a reality.

Sylva's only surviving Main Street Victorian house has been restored to its former glory and now stands proudly alongside the old courthouse to give us a glimpse of our town's past. Through three years of hard work, donations, grant-writing and perseverance, a mountain jewel has emerged from the sad dilapidation of a few years back.

Hats off to Jay and Julie Spiro and the other members of the Hooper House Foundation board for their persistence and dedication to a structure we can all cherish for years to come. Slated for demolition in 1999 to accommodate library expansion, the old structure survived thanks to this visionary group who stayed the wrecking balls and returned the Hooper House to its early 20th-Century splendor.

The Hooper House is the last of the graceful homes that once lined Main Street. Built in 1906 by Dr. D.D. Hooper, it both housed his medical practice and his family.

And now, authentically and beautifully restored, the Hooper House can once again serve downtown as a multipurpose facility. Our local Chamber of Commerce operates a visitors' center there, and SPIR, the downtown revitalization group, has a permanent home in a building whose resurgence personifies SPIR's goals.

Next week is Open House at the Hooper House, and everyone is invited. Drop by to tour the building, enjoy refreshments and chat with the Chamber and SPIR staffs. See for yourself the treat that is in store for visitors to our town and county who will stop by for directions and information about area attractions.

Another big occasion at the Hooper House is coming up in just nine days with the opening of the Jackson County Museum. A joint project of the Jackson County Historical Association and the Webster Historical Society, the museum will open in Dr. Hooper's former offices Saturday, April 27, just in time for our fifth downtown Greening Up the Mountains festival.

The dream of a restored Hooper House has become a reality, and we salute all who made it possible.

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