Two representatives of engineering firm WithersRavenel gave a presentation to the Town Council last week on potential plans for improving downtown Spruce Pine.
The town contracted with WithersRavenel before Hurricane Helene (downgraded to a tropical storm after slowing down over land) to develop a streetscape plan for revitalizing downtown.
Landscape architect Kayleigh Gill explained that the streetscape plan focused on traffic issues and safety for pedestrians. Some stakeholders had suggested that adding outdoor dining spaces might help downtown, but Gill said that the North Carolina Department of Transportation is opposed to any outdoor dining on Upper Street (Oak Avenue).
The town has more leeway with deciding how to use Lower Street (Locust Avenue).
Gill noted that many of the parking spaces in downtown probably need to be made larger.
"We heard from the community that ... prioritizing pedestrian space on Locust Street was the priority," she said. "That was one of the things we heard from business owners a lot — just bring people downtown and have them stay there."
Gill said the estimated cost of revitalizing downtown will be around $34 million.
One of the more dramatic potential changes that WithersRavenel is suggesting is to add a traffic roundabout at the junction of Upper and Lower streets near Highland Avenue. Adding this roundabout could potentially make it easier for drivers to make turns safely, but it would require eliminating the small park next to the Highland Avenue traffic light. Gill noted that the park is actually quite inaccessible to pedestrians, and the greenspace and flowers lost if the park were eliminated could be replaced by adding ornamental landscaping in the center of the new roundabout.
Another significant change proposed is the addition of a parking deck between Upper and Lower streets. WithersRavenel proposes that a parking deck could occupy the space currently used for a small municipal parking lot behind and to the side of the Mitchell News-Journal building.
After the presentation, Mayor Beth Holmes said that she was going to break with usual council protocol to allow a few audience questions. (The presentation brought out a much larger audience than what is typically seen at council meetings.)
One audience member asked if there was a way citizens could look at the WithersRavenel slides
"more in depth" on their own before deciding if they support their proposals. Town Manager Daniel Stines said that the plan will be available on the town website, but only after it is approved by the council.
Holmes, who has a law office downtown, praised the aesthetics of the plan.
"I love the trees — it will be amazing to see some more green," she said.
Brad Ragan Pool
The council voted to approve a quote for $139,100 to replaster and retile the pool at Brad Ragan Park. Stines noted that the pool has needed repeated significant repairs lately, sometimes involving draining and refilling the pool in just a day.
"We just continue to lose plaster in the pool," Stines said.
The retiling bid came from Asheville Pool and Patio.
"Asheville Pool and Patio are the ones who built the pool eons ago, and they also have continued to maintain and do all the work on the pool over those years, simply because most of the equipment is proprietary," Stines said. "It's an informal bid, but we didn't have a lot of interest in the project as far as having local vendors on this. But despite that, Asheville Pool did give a pretty generous discount for having the understanding of the pool and its age and being the original builder of it."