THE YANCEY JOURNAL
, ' v ~>
VOL. 5, NO. 9
Yancey
Hospital
Building
Underway
The brick walls of the
uture ,50-bed Yancey County
tospital building are now
ising on a beautifully situa
ed site on the outskirts of
Burnsville.
The new hospital, long
>lanned as a part of the
wo-county Blue Ridge Hos
jital System, is expected to be
completed early in the spring
rs next year. Although the
'acility will largely be devoted
:o caring for extended-care
patients, there will also be an
jmergency care unit, trauma
renter, 4 treatment beds and
4 observation beds. It will also
include a laboratory and
x-ray.
The site of the new
hospital is on the Pensacola
Road where once stood the
Burnsville boy's camp, and
where later Mr. Herring’s
painting classes vrere held for
many summers. Purchased
advantageously several years
ago by the Yancey Hospital,
the site is recognized as an
excellent location. Close in to
Burnsville, (it is within the
Town Limits), it has beautiful
surroundings and affords
ample parking space.
The building, with 17,000-
square feet, isr designed so
that additions may readily be
added as need arises. The
long range plan envisions one
addition to accommodate doc
tors offices, thus providing an
efficient concentration of-the
county’s medical services in
one area.
Although the construction
site now presents the usual
chaotic appearance of any big
construction job, the archi
tects give assurance that the
finished job will be outstand
ing. The construction is all top
grade, as required to meet the
standards of the North Caro
lina Medical Care Commis
sion, under whose authority
the project is progressing.
The building will not only
serve to meet the health care
needs of the county, but by its
attractive appearance and
well landscaped surround
ings, will contribute impor
tantly to the attractive image
long enjoyed by Yancey
County. A feature of the
hospital surroundings will be
[Cont’d on page 3]
Represents
County
On Board
Frank Sikorski, president
of the Bank’s Creek Commu
nity Club, was elected this
week to represent Yancey
County on the board of
directors of the 18-county
Western North Carolina De
yelopmeht^Assdcfatlbn.
He succeeds Vemie Wil
son of Jacks Creek, who has
■served on the area develop
ment program for the past two
years.
The election took place at
a luncheon meeting at the
Sheraton Motor Inn, Ashe
ville, which was attended by
■both Sikorski and Wilson.
Wilson was honored by
.the group for his interest and
work with the community
development program in his
and in Yancey
•County for the past several
years. \
The WNC Development
Association is an agricultural
promotion group and also
sponsors the WNC Commu
, nity Development Program in
cooperation with the N.C.
.Agricultural Extension Serf
vice.
| \ ■
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Photo By Brian Westveor
One of the most progressive periods In its history is underway in Yancey
County right now. In less than a decade we have witnessed tremendous
growth in many fields:
In that short time span new businesses and new shopping centers have
come Intq being; besides a facelift of the Burnsville town square and other
civic Improvements.
We are building a new high school and a new hospital, and we have
almost completed work on a new town water system.
Costly renovations and remodeling have been done ors the old courthouse
and old bank building to make them our new town hali and new public
library.
We have added a new ’’super” ambulance to our medical services, and
have reinforced our fire-fighting apparatus with more and better equipment.
Yancey Countians can be justly proud of our progress in recent years.
Their ’’buying power” is one of the things that is helping to keep our county
growing. Tax pennies are added to almost every dollar we spend, and these
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ahoto By Brum Wedveer
School Construction Has Bis Impact On Economy i*i«
The construction of the new Mountain Heritage School plant has had a considerable
impact on the economy of Yancey County during Its construction period. Juno
Construction Company, the general contractor for the project, has employed local labor
and craftsmen almost exclusively for the project. In addition, other contractors have used
local people whenever possible. In addition to wages paid locally, sizeable sums of -miry
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
pennies add up to a staggering amount of SIO,OOO to $20,000 every month.
We could do better, though! Yancey County sales tax collections for the
last quarter of 1975 totaled $51,928.10. Mitchell County, however, with a
population figure almost identical to that of Yancey County, collected the sum
of $71,685.52 during the same period. In January, 1976, Yancey County
collected just over SIB,OOO compared to Mitchell County’s $26,000.
Progress is up to the people of Yancey County. We hope that you will read
through this 1976 Progress Edition of the Journal and take a good Hard look
at the businesses which are represented on its pages. These businesses,
large and small, are showing by their advertisement that they are fatty
behind Yancey County progress. In fact, they are really the merchants who
are bringing this newspaper to you, letting yon know that you are »mp«w. n>
to them.
Now it’s up to each individual to stand up and be counted by shopping,
when possible, with these merchants instead of taking your ’’buying power”
to a place that is not only uninterested in Yancey County, but may never even
have heard of It.
have been paid for building materials, fuel, trucking and midifam operations, for food
and lodging for technicians who have come In to work on a particular phase of the
construction.
It Is estimated that almost a million dollars In monies paid to the various contractors
has been returned directly to Yancey County citizens and businesses.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1976
15*
Mountain
Heritage
Ahead Os
Schedule
The Yancey County Board
of Education may be able to
take possession of the new
Mountain Heritage High
School plant ahead of sche
dule this summer. The con
struction project, which began
in October 1974, was sche
duled to be completed on July
4, 1976. However, a revised
schedule presented to the
Board last month indicates
that the project may be
completed by mid-June.
James Padgett, architect for
the project, states that he has
never seen a project of this
size go so smoothly with all
contractors working harmoni
ously toward completion of
the project.
The new structure, pro
claimed by many non-resi
dents of the county as one of
the finest in the state, is
designed to accommodate a
thousand students in grades 9
through 12. It contains class
room facilities for a wide
range of academic subjects,
shops and labs for a variety of
vocational programs, a gym
nasium which will seat up to
2400 spectators, a large media
center, and a school food
service facility. The facility
also contains a seven hun
dred sixty seat auditorium
which was aecousticaliy en
gineered. The stage is large
enough to accommodate va
rious types of performances.
The music suite contains a
band practice room, a choral
music room, a music library
room, practice rooms and
adequate storage space.
Although funds are not
available at this time to
complete the football sta
[Cont’d on page 2]
Town
Improves
Plants
In its continuing efforts to
better the town’s water
supply and to improve its
treatment of sewerage,Burns
ville has made several impor
tant improvements during the
past year. Both water and
sewer systems operate under
strict State supervision, and
for both systems the require
ments from year to year
become more strict.
The Town has made every
effort to comply with the
increasingly stringent re
quirements, even though in
many instances the added
expense has been consider
able. The difference between
the town’s water treatment
plant five years ago, when it
was operated by Ransom
Higgins, employed practically *
on a part-time basis, and the
present automated plant with
its impressive electronic con
trol gear, is the difference
between the horse-and-buggy
days and the present.
In 1971, following several
years of planning and nego
tiating with Federal agencies,
reconstruction of the water
system was begun, the cost to
be approximately $500,000.
Many unforseen delays oc
ncsrly two ycftrs beyond tlic
*A j *
might be comparable to the
occasional ’’lemon coming
line.