The Kings Mountain Herald
October 22, 2008
New conference center expected to
attract business and higher leaming
REBECCA PISCOPO
rpiscopo@kingsmountainherald.com
The Cleveland County
Commission, Cleveland
County Schools, and
Cleveland Community
College have announced
plans for a new, state-of-the-
art conference center which
will be built on the communi-
ty college campus in Shelby.
It is the first time in county
history that three agencies
have worked together on a
project that will benefit busi-
ness, education and job train-
ing.
Without the help of CCS
and CCC, Commissioner
Ronnie Hawkins said that the
county would have been
unable to vote for the build-
ing of the conference center.
The $13-15 million building
hasn’t yet been named as the
project is still in the designing
phase, according to
Commissioner Johnny
Hutchins. He also said that
the 20,000 sq. ft. facility will
most likely be two stories
high.
“We need something to
showcase Cleveland County,”
Hawkins stated. “As I was
telling a few people, I would
rather people come here to
see what we've done instead
of going some place else and
seeing what others have
done.” :
One of the major attractions
for the Commission and their
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partnering agencies is that the
facility is a continuation of
the Early College High
School. There will be more
room to accommodate current
and future students.
“With that program having
to be established on the col-
lege campus, we're looking to
incorporate an early college
high school within this new
facility with state-of-the-art
classrooms,” Hawkins said.
“Right now with the funds
that we put back for the Early
College program, there's
going to be enough to fund it
with borrowing the money to
build it (conference center); so
we're going to be alright as
far as the funds go,” Hutchins -
stated, adding that he spoke
with County Manager David
Dear who assured him that
even if the Commission Board
loses part of their revenue
source, the funds for the proj-
ect are already factored in.
“It won't be a tax burden on
the people itself,” Hutchins
said.
And it has been the people
in Cleveland County who
have been concerned about
the rising unemployment
rate.
The conference center will
also host companies who
wish to train potential work-
ers.
“We have work force devel-
opment, economic develop-
ment offices and meeting
rooms in the facility so that
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we can not only re-train, but
train the work force there
through the community col-
lege,” Hawkins said.
He and Hutchins both feel
that this is an achievement to
address the economic concern
in Cleveland County.
But the biggest achievement
for the commissioners is that
they are meeting the need for
the county to have a large
facility in which teacher con-
ferences, proms and industry
showcases can take place.
“We all kind of did some
thinking about what we
would like to see the future of
Cleveland County (to) look
like. One of the projects that I
wanted to try to work with
the community on was to try
to get a conference center to
try to come to Cleveland
County. There's really no
facility that the public or
industry can use to have
things like the Chamber of
Commerce Banquet,”
Hawkins stated.
“There’s no place in the area
for businesses to have any-
thing that they can get togeth-
er for any type of promotion,”
Hutchins said, adding that it
can also be utilized as a coli-
seum area.
It is big enough, according
to Hutchins, that a car dealer-
ship would be able to show-
case their latest model vehi-
cle. A large entry way is built
into the design.
It is also spacious enough to
seat up to 1,000 people.
The three agencies haven't
set a date for a ground break-
ing yet. But it appears as if the
hopes for the future confer-
ence center are just as large as
the dream for one.
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Petition stirs up
spirits for mixed
beverage sales
REBECCA PISCOPO
rpiscopo@kingsmountainherald.com
Citizens for Progress, Kings
Mountain businesses and res-
idents have placed copies of a
petition Supporiing mixed
beverage sales at four local
companies - including
Parker’s Amoco - where reg-
istered voters can sign their
names.
The petition, which has to
be approved by the
Cleveland County Board of
Elections before and after sig-
natures are collected, got the
okay from the BoE on
October 7. If approved, the
petition will result in a refer-
endum for citizens to vote on
mixed beverage sales.
Council members at last
month’s meeting, voted
against a referendum that
would have called for an elec-
tion on whether or not to
allow mixed beverage sales in
KM. After their decision,
Citizens for Progress decided
to bypass the city by circulat-
ing a petition of their own.
It is because of that, that
former Mayor Scott Neisler
said that it is not a coinci-
dence that the petition started
on the anniversary of the
Battle of Kings Mountain in
the Revolutionary War.
The petition will be
reviewed by monitors such as
Neisler and Adventures-in-
Advertising owner Gregg
Johnson. They have 90 days
to gather 35% of the names
from the 6,700 registered vot-
ers in KM.
On Monday, Citizens for
Progress’ leader and lawyer
Gina Collias, ‘reported that
they have collected 340
names. Neisler said on
Tuesday that the list exceeded
400 names. However,
Johnson had stated that while
those numbers may sound
high, they are not enough.
“We will have to go
through and make sure that
the signature is the valid sig-
nature for the person being
registered to vote,” said
Johnson. “When word gets
out I'm sure there will be a lot
more signatures.”
Even if the petition gets the
ultimate goal of 2,345 names,
the process Johnson says, is
still complicated. In addition
to checking signature validity
and voter registration, moni-
tors also have to ensure that
the person is a KM resident.
Neisler reported that one
business owner has his own
petition with 600 signatures.
It has not gone through the
Board of Elections for valid
approval, and it is not known
how many of those names are
registered voters.
That is why Collias and
Johnson both say that they
hope to place another request
for a mixed beverage referen-
dum back on the October
28th City Council meeting
agenda.
“I would like to see them
(council members) do the
right thing,” Collias said.
“This is an economic issue!”
Collias said that her big
concern in the midst of a
national recession is that KM
businesses who have closed
(including Grapevine,
Spectrum Yarns and car deal-
erships) have left behind
unemployed citizens. One
restaurant could bring as
many as 40 jobs. Johnson said
that council members need to
consider the fact that the
county unemployment rate
has risen to 9%.
There is even a third way in
which LBTD could be
allowed. Citizens from KM
who support it could take the
issue before the county Board
of Commissioners. But, if the
county were to accept full
responsibility for ABC sales
then the generated tax rev-
enue that the cities would
otherwise receive, would go
to the county.
Johnson said that he hopes
to spread the word about the
petition, especially in the
event the referendum is voted
down again by council.
Days before Halloween
night, the October 28th meet-
ing is expected to raise the
spirits of Kings Mountain for
a second time.
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