Restoration project needs funding to complete North Carolina Storytelling Center
Professional storyteller Tim Hall is creating a five-story Storytelling Center in Western North Carolina. He has taken out a 30-year lease on the 1910 Citizens Bank Building in Bryson City, which he hopes will eventually hold a storytelling center, live radio broadcast, museum and a wing dedicated to Southern Appalachian research and education. Hall has paid for all of the building-related expenses so far, but he cannot continue to do so. It will cost approximately $2.4 million for renovations and construction of a five-story addition. Hall hopes to raise money in the form of grants, donations, sponsors, benefactors and members.
Restoration of the Citizens Bank Building is currently on hold after engineers discovered asbestos and lead paint during a structural analysis of the building. Both toxic substances will have to be removed before restoration can begin. The roof, which also contains asbestos, will need to be replaced. The $100,000 it will take to complete this work needs to be raised before the larger restoration project can begin.
For the full story, go to The Smoky Mountain News.
