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Shag dance
Mount Hollydays is sponsoring a shag dance, Sept. 13 at the Tuckaseege Center in Mount Holly.
The evening begins at 6 p.m., with a barbecue and chicken dinner, followed by beach music with disc jockey Gene Hensley, 7-11 pm. Proceeds will go to the nonprofit Mount Hollydays events in December.
Tickets are $25 each and available at the following Mount Holly businesses: BB&T, Charlie’s Drugs, Christy’s Restaurant, Citizens South, Wachovia and Community One banks and David’s Detailing and Car Wash. Tickets will not be available at the door.
For more details, consult the Web site, www.mounthollydays.com.
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Center to open soon
By THOMAS LARK
- Thu, Jun 5, 2008
MOUNT HOLLY—It’s finally ready.
After years of planning and months of work, the Mount Holly Citizens Center is a reality.
And City Councilman Perry Toomey is excited about this $8 million jewel in what is sure to be the glorious crown of Mount Holly’s bright future. In a Friday interview, Toomey said the Mount Holly City Council’s next regular meeting, June 9, is scheduled to be held in the new digs.
“We plan to meet in the new chambers,” he said, “and the city will start moving in some time later. By around June 20, the administrative personnel will have moved in, and the police department will be moved in a month or two later. We’ve already contracted with a mover. I think we’re all pretty excited about it.”
The two spacious floors of the former American & Efird facility will enjoy a new and long life as the multi-functional Citizens Center. Toomey extolled the efforts of Namour-Wright-Creech Architecture and construction company Cox & Shepp, both based in Charlotte.
“I think, looking to our future, that there’s a lot of growth potential here,” Toomey said of the center. “There’s about 7,000 square feet in our grand hall for city activities. And there’s probably between around 7,000 and 9,000 square feet for retail space. There’s a great potential for future growth and development at this center without really having to add on anything.
“And the Mount Holly Police Department’s area is just state-of-the-art,” he continued. “Our police department and city staffers both are in dire need of these new offices, so this will work out extremely well for everybody and enable us to serve the citizens of Mount Holly even better.”
But not everyone is quite as enthusiastic. Frank McLean, a sitting city councilman and a former mayor of Mount Holly, said he didn’t think the original idea was a good one, but he’s since made his peace with it.
“I didn’t vote for it when the council originally voted for it back in 2002, when Bobby Black was mayor,” McLean said Monday. “But I’m OK with it now. At the time, I didn’t think the $600,000 we paid A&E for the building was a good way of spending the town’s money. I also didn’t want City Hall moved from downtown.”
So what’s to become of the existing Mount Holly City Hall?
“They’ve talked about keeping the building, but that’s not set in stone,” said McLean. “It’s just been mumbled about amongst the council people. But we haven’t fully decided what to do. I think we could use it for meetings other than city meetings—local groups and things like that.”
In his interview, Toomey also looked ahead to other projects. The planned linear park will connect downtown Mount Holly from Central Avenue at the Wachovia Bank all the way to the Citizens Center. Then, Tuckaseege Park will be tied into the linear park via a greenway. And the ongoing $1.3 million renovation at Tuck Park will only improve on what is already a greatly enjoyable spot.
“It’s going to be really nice,” Toomey enthused. “But the larger picture is truly our new Citizens Center. And it’s going to be great for our city to have these greenways and green space.”
Coming in 2009 will be a new million-gallon water tank on Huitt Street.
“We’ve sent the plans to the state for permitting approval,” said Toomey. “That will probably take four to seven weeks. And soon after that, the bidding process will start. I know a lot of folks will be very glad to see that new tank next year.”
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