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DOWNTOWN
Big visit
next week
Downtown gets ready to welcome
special Main Street team for 4-day visit
to focus action plan on revitalization
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Next week will be an im-
portant week for the city.
Dignitaries and officials with
the state's department of
commerce and the North .
Carolina Main Street and
Small Main Street Program
(a process developed by the
National Trust for Historic
Preservation's National Main
Street Center) will be com- |
ing to Kings Mountain to
focus an action plan for revi-
talizing the downtown area.
The visiting group, called
a "resource team", is made
up of Liz Parham, director of
the Office of Urban Devel-
opment; Teresa Watts, assis-
tant director of the NC Main
Street Center; Lauren Mali-
noff, the state's Main Street
designer; Lew Holloway, de-
signer for the western divi-
sion of the Small Main Street
program; and Bob Mur-
phrey, a specialist in eco-
nomic restructuring and
organization.
The team will arrive on
Monday and over a week
span will meet with local
leaders, business owners,
and others throughout the
community to discuss down-
town issues and opportuni-
ties and to provide a variety
of ideas and strategies for in-
creasing economic vitality in
Kings Mountain's central
business district.
"The team is looking for-
ward to being in Kings
Mountain," Parham said.
"We will be looking for op-
portunities to expand on the
good work that is already
taking place and opportuni-
ties to make improvements
in downtown."
"A resource team visit is
an intense experience," ac-
cording to the NC Main
Street Center. "It occurs over
four days, it involves a large
number of local people, a
great deal of information is
absorbed and synthesized,
and it results in a series of
concise recommendations
presented at a public meet-
ing.’
A public reception will be
held on Tuesday, July 27th,
from 6-7 p.m., in the lobby
‘PUBLIC
RECEPTIONS
‘ The Mountaineer
Partnership Inc. and .
NC Main Street staff in-
vite and encourage
community members to
attend the following
meetings to be held
next week.
Public Reception -
Tuesday, July 27th, 6-7
p.m., at Joy Perform-
ance Center, 202 S.
Railroad Ave. The pur-
pose of this meet-and-
greet reception is to
welcome the NC Main
Street Program staff,
view the new Kings
Mountain economic
drivers vision state-
ment, and review news-
paper articles detailing
Kings Mountain's first
year as a Main Street
community. Light re-
freshments will be pro-
vided.
Public Presentation
- Thursday, July 29th,
7-8:30 p.m., at Kings
Mountain Woman's
Club, 108 E. Mountain
St. The NC Main Street
staff will present their
recommendations on
how to create a vibrant,
healthy and thriving
downtown using
streetscape design,
historic preservation,
economic restructuring
and promotion. Re-
freshments will be pro-
vided.
ER
of the Joy Performance Cen-
ter, 202 S. Railroad Ave. A
public’ presentation will be
held Thursday, July 29th,
from 7-8:30 p.m. at the
Kings Mountain Woman's
Clubhouse, 108 E. Mountain
St. .
At the public presentation
NC Main Street staff will
present their recommenda-
tions on how to create a vi-
brant, healthy and thriving
See VISIT, 7A
Correction
The Herald incorrectly re-
ported last week that Ted Ford
is the owner of a sweepstakes
business.
Ford, who owns the builds
ing in which the business is
located, said he does not own
the business itself. He rents
space in his building to Etna
Lena Sweepstakes.
The Herald had asked the
City of Kings Mountain for a
list of sweepstakes busi-
nesses. The list given to The
Herald from the city's codes
department listed Ford as
owner. When The Herald later
asked for copies of the appli-
‘cation for permits to verify .
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3
ownership, the city refused to
provide them, claiming they
are not public records.
They further explained
that for their internal purposes
the codes department uses the
name of the building owner
* rather than the business owner
when defining ownership.
That distinction had not been
made when the city provided
the original information.
Helping Hands - 5A
Summer campers at Mountaineer
the KM Family YMCA a
help feed the hungry mini-camp
starts Tues.
Sports 1B
BUSINESS - Behavioral health
offices merge into one location
in Kings Mountain
7A
~ EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Abigail Cody enjoys a cool slice of watermelon last
year at Beach Blast.
12 p.m. -
1:45 p.m. - Watermelon Eating covet i
] (sponsored by Falls Insurance)
3:45 p.m. - Big Beach Ball Drop (spon-
Local groups work to feed hungry. 5A
BEACH BLAST TIMELINE
N Teenie. Weenie Bikini Contest
“4 (sponsored by First National Bank)
© 1 p.m. - The Extraordinaires. =
"11th annual Beach Blast to have fun
for all this Saturday at Patriot’s Park
A Teenie Weenie Bikini Contest, a watermelon eating
competition, a high heel road race, a big beach ball drop,
volleyball, bands, vendors and more will highlight this
Saturday’s 11th annual Beach Blast at Patriot’s Park i in
downtown Kings Mountain.
The event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., will
pay homage to the water, the sand, the sun, the music and
the fun normally seen along the Grand Strand. City Spe-
cial Events Director Ellis Noell said that with all of the ac-
tivities planned downtown Kings Mountain will feel more
like Ocean Drive.
Beach music fans can shag dance into the summer
. night with music at the gazebo provided by The Extraor-
dinaires, Jim Quick & the Coastline Band and the Band
of Oz. People of all ages can cool off and have fun on the
ii Rotary Splash Pad, under the rain of a 30’ spray “foun-
| tain” and in rounds of Water Wars.
A special car show featuring the "first SUVs" or early
station wagons, known as "woodies" for their original
See BLAST, 3A
sored by Adventures i in Advertising and Jason:
Falls' campaign commission)
4 p.m. - Jim Quick & the Coastline Band
7 pa m, - Band of Oz. :
Film Fest to light up screen tonight
Cleveland County Arts Council's 11th annual Real to
Reel International Film Festival will start rolling tonight at
the Joy Performing Arts Center with the showing of the first
six of 27 films coming to Kings Mountain from as far away
as the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Canada.
The July 21-24 festival, held each year in downtown,
showcases the works of filmmakers in a variety of genres.
This year's international film festival will feature 13 short-
length films, ranging from seven minutes to 21 minutes; eight
documentaries on subjects such as endangered gorillas in the
rain forests of Cameroon and the superstition of the "evil
eye"; four animation clips, and two feature-length films.
Showtime begins each night at 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. |
A Saturday matinee will'begin at 1 p.m.
A wrap party with the festival's presentation of awards
will follow the final film showing on Saturday night, July 24.
Tickets will be sold‘ for $8 each day at the box office. A
festival pass, giving film lovers a ticket to all showings, the
matinee and festival party, will be sold for $30 each. Chil-
dren under age 12 will be admitted free with a guardian. Tick-
ets can also be purchased online at www.ccartscouncil.org
Attendees may have a chance to meet some of the film-
makers at the showings. Violet Arth, who has organized the
film festival for six years now, said that she has received
word that at least five filmmakers will be attending.
This year's Real to Reel will feature six foreign films and
one from a filmmaker in Raleigh.
Arth, who is also the director of marketing at the Cleve- |
See FILM, 3A
The Joy marquee announces opening night.
Truck plaza pedestals to purge pollution
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Big rigs won't have to idle while
truck drivers eat and sleep at the Kings
Mountain Truck Plaza if City Council
agrees Tuesday night to be the admin-
istrator of a $540,000 federal grant
aimed at reducing pollution on the
highways.
Mayor Rick Murphrey said the grant
money would provide 50-plus electric
service pedestals at the Truck Plaza
owned by Trent Testa on Dixon School
Road. The pedestals would provide air-
conditioning, heat and electricity with-
out the trucks idling and create a
pollution-free environment.
The mayor said that when trucks
idle they give off fumes and the reduc-
tion of air pollution will help the Char-
lotte Metropolitan Area conform to
federal air pollution guidelines and
keep its federal highway dollars. An-
other benefit, he said, of electrification
will be gasoline savings.
Planning Director Steve Killian said
the city is involved because a local gov-
ernment must be the grant administra-
tor for the project from the Federal
Department of Transportation.
Centralina Council of Government,
which has administered a similar proj-
ect in Rowan County, would adminis-
ter the contract and handle front end
expenses on behalf of the city. The
grant includes $51,000 for administra-
tion and legal work, including staff
Customers
are Our Business!
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain 704.739.5411
www. alliancebankandtrust.com ® MEMBER FDIC
services and local NCDOT staff to han-
dle construction inspection.
Killian said the agreements include:
the contract for the vendor to install
pedestals and absorb any costs the grant
cannot cover; the agreement for the
truck stop owner to reimburse the city
in case the truck stop ceases to operate
or the pedestals become inoperable dur-
ing the first seven years; and the agree-
ment between the vendor and the truck
stop owner that covers conditions of
operation during the first seven years.
Killian said he will recommend that
the city move forward with the project. :
City Council meets at 6 p.m. in
Council Chambers at City Hall.
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