Commissioners nix support for unappreciative Pottery Center

Some come to the Randolph County Commissioners requesting help for a project that board members feel they simply cannot accommodate.

Others seem less than appreciative of help from the board, and so see that offer rescinded.

Such was the case at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting where the board took back their financial support for the N.C. Pottery Center.

The vote on financial support for the N.C. Pottery Center was unanimous in a decision to withdraw the county’s offer of $25,000 in operation and maintenance funding for the struggling art center.

Commissioner Phil Kemp said, at a recent pottery board meeting, members voted against the possibility of letting the buildings and property go to Randolph Community College, in the event that the center has to end operation.

Kemp reported board members informed him that, should the center close, they had the right to sell the property and do what they wanted to with the proceeds as long as the money goes to another 501(c)3 operation.

He said the Pottery Center board voted to “nullify its agreement with the county.”

Frye questioned if the property could be sold outright without consulting the state since $750,000 in state funding went into the construction of the Pottery Center. He asked County Attorney Darren Allen to look into the matter.

Earlier this year, the center offered to gift itself to the state Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) to take over the center at a cost of $186,818 annually. As part of that arrangement, commissioners voted to provide $25,000 annually in operations and maintenance support for the facility.

But the governor didn’t include that item in his budget, leaving the center at loose ends for money for the coming year.

In July, the center’s board sent out a plea for help from members and the surrounding community. Denny Mecham, the center director, resigned.

At the time, the center’s board entertained the notion of leasing the site to RCC for one year, if operation had to cease. They held out the option to have the property returned one year later, if funding for the center could be found.

Kemp said the center’s board hopes to continue along on donations until the 2009 state budget is written. At that time, they hope the center will be adopted by the state.

Kemp said the center’s board had been less than civil in its dealings with the county.

He said their attitude made him question whether the county should continue to support the center since the original deal was based on an agreement with a state agency that had fallen through.

“If they want to be there, they ought to look after it (the property),” he said.

James Chriscoe, county buildings/maintenance director, told commissioners that in the 2007-08 budget, the county spent $5,000 in materials to do projects like fix air conditioning units and repair light fixtures. In the new budget year, the county had already spent $1,000 in materials, he said.

Chriscoe said when the cost of labor is included, the county’s total investment in the center could be valued at about twice that amount.

He said the center’s board has now asked for repairs to an air conditioning unit at the house on the property. He said he has been told the board wants to rent the property out to generate funds for the center.

Kemp offered a resolution to discontinue upkeep of the N.C. Pottery Center property, return the recently purchased air conditioning equipment and wish the board well in their success.

Commissioner Arnold Lanier added, “Turn the water off. The well’s dry.”

The board voted unanimously to make it so.

(The Museum gave The NC Pottery Center life, property, a house, money, pottery and staff support, and what did the Center do for the Museum in return? For one, the Center tried to kill off the Museum and steal its festival.)

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