Murphy – A performance stage is in the works for Konehete Veterans Park.
Mayor Tim Radford announced Nov. 7 that the town has been awarded a $70,000 grant for the project from the State of North Carolina. The Murphy Town Council voted to approve the design of the stage, which Radford said will be handled by the Murphy High School carpentry class.
Radford added that the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners previously committed an additional $70,000 toward the project.
“Basically, this is a blessing to say, ‘Build the stage,’ “ Radford said of the council’s vote. “The carpentry class over there will be handling the designs of it and the building of it, which will save a tremendous amount of money. That $140,000 can go a long way.”
Radford thanked state Sen. Kevin Corbin, state Rep. Karl Gillespie and Russ Harris at the Southwestern Commission for their help in acquiring the $70,000 Directed Grant from the N.C. Local Project Reserves. Radford said he did not want to further burden Murphy taxpayers, since they will already be helping fund the county’s $70,000 portion of the project.
“We presented this a while back,” Radford said. “Commissioner (Gary “Hippie”) Westmoreland came along with Wendy Alexander, who is the drama teacher at Murphy High School, and they wanted to build a stage.
“This board was concerned about spending money. Cherokee County had already committed $70,000 for this project, so I reached out to Sen. Corbin and Rep. Gillespie to see if we could get an additional $70,000.”
The stage is set to be built above the floodplain in the park. Some council members expressed a desire to find a different location, though a move could be difficult. Radford said that location was chosen, in part, due to parking and proximity to restrooms. Board members also had concerns as to whether or not the existing restrooms will be suitable for the venue.
“We need to have (new) restrooms in coordination with this thing,” council member Frank Dickey said. “I don’t think the ballpark restrooms are going to be satisfactory at all. Coaching little league for seven years, they can be perfect right now, and in 10 minutes it can be the awfullest mess you’ve ever seen.”
Council member Barry McClure said he was particularly happy about local students’ involvement in the project.
“This is awesome,” McClure said. “That will be so good for those kids to have the experience, too, and it be a community thing. Those kids will have the ownership of that, too, and that is wonderful.”