SPRUCE PINE — The Spruce Pine Town Council during its regular meeting on Monday, March 22 received an update on the Riverside Park Story Trail and unanimously approved the allocation of $6,000 to the project for book displays and audio stations.
Several people involved with the local story trail, including AMY Regional Library Director Amber Westall Briggs, spoke to the council about the trail and the plans for making it a permanent fixture in the park.
The story trail invites park visitors to follow a story while walking around the park and is a collaboration between AMY Regional Library, Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, Penland School of Craft, Williams YMCA of Avery County and the Town of Spruce Pine.
Westall Briggs said the first two books on the trail were successful and well-received.
“So far, the community response has been great,” Westall Briggs said.
Westall Briggs added that the story trail encourages people to get outside and to visit Riverside Park, adding that it’s another way to encourage people to stay in Mitchell County.
“We want people to stay here,” she said. “We want to raise families here. We want people to visit and vacation here.”
As the story trail transitions from a pilot program to a permanent fixture, monetary support has been necessary. The story trail team has written three grants and between support from the project partners, fundraising and other donations, the permanent fixtures are already 50-percent funded.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this level of support this fast,” Westall Briggs said. “The fact that we’ve had so much support shows that people do want the story trail here in Spruce Pine.”
As part of the move to permanent fixtures, the story trail will get 18 metal stands that hold parts of the book, blown up for easy reading. There will also be metal posts with speakers that will read the story to visitors, with buttons for both English and Spanish.
“It’s a win for everybody,” said Council Member Jackie Rensink. “I can’t find a downside for this.”
Westall Briggs added that the story trail has “limitless options” because it could be used in collaboration with local organizations like museums, arts councils and more to tell stories with audio components.
Spruce Pine Mayor Darla Harding suggested one application could be a story on how the railroad came to Spruce Pine and added that Spruce Pine Public Works would likely be able to assist with the installation of the metal posts.
“We’ve got a great group in public works that could help us,” she said. “They’re a smart, talented bunch.”
The town’s contribution will help fund the metal posts that will make the story trail come alive. First, the sign displays will go up with the audio stations coming later as funding comes in.
The AMY Regional Library will maintain the equipment with the town only being responsible for the land around the stations. Westall Briggs said before the project moves forward, a memorandum of understanding would be drafted to establish what the library maintains.
Before the discussion closed, Council Member Rocky Buchanan asked how much the posts were expected to cost.
The posts were slated to be made by an out-of-county company and were expected to cost more than $300 each. Buchanan suggested that getting them done locally would likely be much cheaper, adding that McGee Brothers Machine and Welding of Spruce Pine could likely make each post for a fraction of the cost.
Westall Briggs thanked Buchanan for his suggestion and Buchanan agreed to take the posts to McGee Brothers to give them an idea of the specifications and get an exact quote.
In addition to saving money on each post, Rensink said ensuring the posts are locally-made will also increase the town’s pride in the trail.
“It becomes more special if it’s locally-made,” Rensink said.