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County approves incentive package for area
theme park
By Scott Nicholson
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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