A proposal for county support for a local tourist attraction drew a packed audience at Tuesday’s county commission meeting.
The commissioners unanimously approved land purchases and promotional support of around $4 million for Tweetsie Railroad, a Wild West theme park between Blowing Rock and Boone that recently opened for its 51st year but faced an uncertain future.
Planning director Joe Furman, who is acting economic developer for the county, presented the economic incentive plan to open the public hearing. Furman outlined two conditions that would secure the park’s future in the face of rising land prices and pressure to develop leased property for residential use. Furman said Tweetsie Railroad must be purchased by general manager Chris Robbins, who is seeking financing to become majority shareholder of Tweetsie. Two tracts must be purchased by 2010, when current leases expire, with other park property under lease through 2065.
Furman said the loss of Tweetsie and its $27 million annual economic impact would be a big blow to the county, since it’s the sixth-largest employer in the county, with 26 full-time jobs and more than 300 seasonal jobs. He said other counties had offered proposals to try to lure the theme park out of Watauga County and because of planned expansions, Tweetsie was unable to buy the affected property before the 2010 leases expired.
Robbins thanked supporters and said the theme park has resolved many of the land leases but needed to buy out two parcels whose owners didn’t want to lease the property. He said there were other challenges facing the theme park, such as family succession in ownership, improvements and rising lease costs. He said park improvements were necessary, with the theme park spending $1 million last year.
He described the incentive package as a “partnership” and said the theme park was also making commitments to match the county’s. He said that last year, the park had 235,000 visitors, and the county could see economic benefits for “many, many years to come.”
“We brought the land resolution to 80 percent,” Robbins said. “We need that final 20 percent.”
The 300-acre park sits on several tracts, with about a third of the property owned by Tweetsie. Various landowner groups own the other tracts.
Under the proposal, the county would purchase a 46-percent interest share in a 46-acre tract and a 35-percent interest in a 96-acre tract, with a total outlay of $3.15 million. The county’s Tourism Development Authority, using revenues collected through an occupancy tax, would provide $200,000. The county would then lease the property to Tweetsie at $1 a year for six years, at which time Tweetsie could purchase it at market rate, plus any expenses and interest.
The TDA would provide an annual grant of $150,000 for those six years for marketing and promotion. Tweetsie, in turn, would commit to remaining at the present location, making $13 million in park improvements and creating an easement and constructing a portion of the Middle Fork Greenway on its property.
Tweetsie had undergone lease struggles in the last few years, reaching the point where it had begun exploring other locations outside the county. The theme park has an option on a property in Wilkes County and has also considered Caldwell County.
The county’s resolution reads, “The assistance to be provided by the County is essential to preserving probable hourly wages to be paid to employees of the Company which are at or above the median wage in the County; retaining a substantial number of jobs in the County; preserving substantial and positive economic impact for the county; retaining the Amusement Park in the County; and meeting the competitive offers made by one or more other counties.”
The town of Blowing Rock, the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce and the Boone Convention & Visitors Bureau delivered letters to the commissioners supporting the package.
AppalCART director Chris Turner, representing the Blue Ridge Sierra Club, supported the development of the Middle Fork Greenway as part of the incentive package. He said park expansion could also offer opportunities to use other “green techniques” in building and operations.
Fowler Cooper, member of the Economic Development Commission, said the commission was supportive and felt it was necessary to retain the park and its economic benefits.
Dan Meyer, president of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, said, “Their leaving would be a major loss to the county,” likening it to the loss of an industrial factory in its impact.
He said the park provides salaries that circulate in the area and support local non-profit groups and businesses.
Harris Prevost of Grandfather Mountain said in the travel industry, all attractions were partners, and overnight guests were more likely to want several attractions in order to justify a long trip and stay. “We’re all in this together,” he said.
J.B. Lawrence, mayor of Blowing Rock, said the park offered fond memories for those who grew up in the area and the Blowing Rock Town Council supported the plan. “We could spend twice as much money and get only half the impact,” he said, adding Blowing Rock was dependent on tourism.
Blowing Rocking Chamber of Commerce director Charles Hardin said the theme park offered jobs to different sectors and said, “Third-generation Tweetsie-goers now accompany their parents and grandparents.”
He said positive experiences brought people back for return visits. “Boone and Blowing Rock would never be the same if we couldn’t hear the whistle of ‘The Little Engine That Could,’ while we were outside in the summer,” Hardin said.
Not everyone supported the plan. Roy Gryder called it the most “outrageous idea” to ever come from the county government, saying it would add to the local tax burden, and cited the county’s commitment to building a new high school. He said the privately owned company had failed to prepare for the future and “was now trying to coerce the taxpayers by threatening to leave.” He said the theme park should “live and die on its own merits.”
Tim Gregg also opposed tax dollars being used for a private company and said the money could better be used for roads, police protection and other needs.
Tracy Brown of the Blowing Rock TDA read a resolution supporting the theme park’s contributions to the region, dating back to the opening of the Wild West theme park in 1957.
Kent Tarbutton of Chetola Resort discussed Tweetsie and said it was a fair deal and the county not only gets its money back but gets other benefits in return, such as the park’s regional advertising.
John Callahan read a letter he’d written two years before, when he learned the theme park might be relocating. He said it was a historic site and suggested then that the county purchase the land and lease it back to Tweetsie. “This is a win-win situation that costs the taxpayer nothing and brings a lot to the county in the future,” Callahan said.
Watauga County TDA chairman Rob Holton said Tweetsie was an important part of the county’s culture. “Our tourism is based on wholesome family entertainment and outdoor recreation,” he said.
Dale Carroll, president of AdvantageWest, said keeping the theme park was important to the region and said, “This is a common thread that goes through many families, not just in North Carolina but throughout the Southeast and other parts of the country.”
He said diversity was important to the economy of the mountains.
Dick Hearn, president of the Middle Fork Greenway Association, said he applauded the county’s and Robbins’s efforts to develop the greenway and “keep the whistle blowing in these mountains.”
The commissioners unanimously adopted the proposal, and commissioner John Cooper said the package had been discussed for 18 months and was the right thing for the county. Commissioner Bill Winkler said the historic element was one of the most important draws of the theme park.
Commission chairman Jim Deal said the commissioners have received a lot of public feedback and had studied the issue closely and that he appreciated people expressing their opinions. He said taxpayers should hold commissioners accountable for their decisions.
“What we’re doing is not a giveaway,” he said, noting the county would own the land and taxpayers would not lose money. He said Tweetsie brought money to the county, and the package was an investment in a partnership that brought money to both parties and helped keep property tax rates low.
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