By Ellen Stephens, Guest Columnist
The county-owned Mountain Folk Center is on U.S. 64/74 West, 8.8 miles from McDonald’s in Murphy. The original 1975 property description says “Farmers Market/Industrial Site.” The use of Building A on the site for large livestock sales started declining in the late 1990s and stopped around 2005.
Since 2014, the Cherokee County Saddle Club has sponsored more than 50 events at the site and has funded construction of a warm up arena and a show office. In 2022, a drainage pipe broke under the competition arena, resulting in a large hole. CCSC met with commissioners in 2023 to look at options for relocating this arena.
CCSC supports demolishing Building A and locating an outdoor arena in this footprint, which is the only relatively flat area that is big enough. This plan leaves adequate parking, leaves the warm up arena intact and is set back from the highway.
The larger issue is that the entire site has been underused for the last 40 years. The original buildings are in disrepair. Some have said that it is too far from town.
Here are three possible outcomes:
- One is to do nothing and let the infrastructure continue to decay.
- The second is to sell the property.
- The third is to develop a public multipurpose event center.
CCSC favors number three. This project would follow relocation of the outdoor arena and would cover it with a clear span building. The location has easy access to the highway, so large trailers and a lot of traffic can come and go efficiently.
CCSC events have drawn people from as far away as Knoxville, Tenn., so it is not too far from town.
At present, Cherokee County has no large public covered facility with adequate seating that groups and individuals can use for their events.
The Rabun Arena in Georgia generates more than $1 million in money spent annually, boosting the local economy.
The site already has infrastructure to support this use. Sale of the property will make having a local community event center much more difficult. The original intention of industrial use has not happened in the last 50 years.
The industry that would be supported by this development is tourism. Many of the people who come to events will buy meals and lodging, and tourists will extend their stays when there are events happening.
Apart from tourism, the quality of life here would be improved if there were more opportunities for local groups to bring people together at their events.
This is a challenge to Cherokee County to develop a plan that will benefit the entire county. Grants are available for this kind of development, and CCSC is glad to work with you on this project.
The writer is a resident of Murphy and treasurer of the Cherokee County Saddle Club Inc.