By: Mac McLean / Reporter, Bristol Herald Courier
September 6, 2008
A group of Southwest Virginia residents committed to rebuilding the High Knob Observation Tower signed a special memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service at a Friday morning news conference in Norton, Va.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., said the agreement “sets the terms for the future stages of the project” in a phone interview after it was signed.
The memorandum, he said, also reflects a significant amount of progress the community has made in their efforts to replace the 68-year-old Southwest Virginia icon since it was destroyed in an arsonist’s blaze on Halloween.
A federal grand jury on March 11 indicted Nicholas Owens and Christopher Dominc Hyatt with setting the observation tower on fire and lying to investigators about their actions.
Hyatt pleaded guilty to the charges against him on June 26 while Owens, who had joined the Coeburn, Va., Volunteer Fire Department just before he set the fire, is awaiting trial in Abingdon’s federal court.
“When the High Knob tower burned down, there was a shock in the community,” said Boucher. “[Rebuilding it] was just an obvious thing to do.”
But rebuilding the tower was not an easy task because the U.S. Forest Service did not have enough money to take care of the project, he said. This is why Boucher held a special forum on Jan. 8 and brought together people who were interested in rebuilding The High Knob Enhancement Corporation, a non-profit group that gained its 501(c)3 status last month, formed as a result of this conference.
Corporation Chairman Lu Ellsworth said his group so far has raised $55,000 to rebuild the tower.
Most of the money, Ellsworth said has come in though small donations though there have been larger donors including the city of Norton, Scott County, Wise County, and Virginia Dominion Power.
The Forest Service will then take this money and use it to hire an architect who will design the observation tower’s replacement, said Ed Wessman, a recreational staff assistant with the agency.
Wessman said this agreement is detailed in the memorandum of understanding his agency signed with the corporation Friday afternoon.
In the document the agency also agreed to provide any technical services and support that it can to the corporation in its efforts to rebuild, Wessman said. Ellsworth’s group in return will promote the tower’s importance to the community and their efforts to rebuild it.
Wessman said the two parties will sign a second agreement in the future that will allow the corporation to raise money to build a new tower and give it to the Forest Service.
Building a new fire tower would cost $525,000, Ellsworth said. But he feels confident the corporation can reach this goal not only because of the progress the group has made so far but because of what he thinks is the tower’s importance to the community.
“It’s been there for two or three generations,” he said. “High Knob has been not only an icon for the area but it’s also an economic asset.”
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Tower effort needs the ‘we’
By: Editorial, Coalfield Progress
September 2, 2008
When it comes to rebuilding High Knob tower, now is the time for “they” to become “we.” “They” alone can’t rebuild the old tower, destroyed by fire last year. It will rise from ashes only if “we” help rebuild it.
That message comes from Rita McReynolds, who chairs the tower fund-raising committee. Her words should strike a chord with anyone who has ever spent time on High Knob atop that old tower. “It is the people’s tower and we need the people in order to rebuild it,” McReynolds says.
How true. For as much as visitors to the area have enjoyed the stunning views, that tower doesn’t hold the same special place in their hearts. Here at home, it had become entwined in the fabric of our lives. We don’t want it rebuilt because of tourists, but for us.
The efforts of county native Jack Hatcher and The Texas Club bring home how far High Knob really reaches. The place touches the memories of members of this post World War II social club. They grew up in its shadow, Hatcher recalls, and have taken this bit of life history with them where ever their lives took them.
While big bucks from big donors make big strides toward the $572,000 goal, we must not forget the importance of the smallest donation. Consider the “What if’s.”
At every Friday night ball game, cheerleaders typically sell programs. Fans routinely give without a second thought, recognizing that their small donation isn’t as much about the program they hold in their hands as it is about helping cheerleaders and athletics. If asked, these same fans would probably chip in an extra dollar if the money was going to another worthy cause — rebuilding the High Knob tower.
When fans line up for refreshments at the concession stand, they buy popcorn, hotdogs and soft drinks knowing that proceeds go to athletic or band boosters. If they were asked to donate their change to the fund for rebuilding High Knob tower, they’d likely say, sure, keep the change for a good cause.
Those nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars might not seem like much, but they would really start to add up if every single solitary adult and student organization in Wise County made a point to include the High Knob tower rebuilding fund in their own fund-raising efforts.
Every penny counts. Take up the cause and, together, we will rebuild High Knob tower.
September 2, 2008
When it comes to rebuilding High Knob tower, now is the time for “they” to become “we.” “They” alone can’t rebuild the old tower, destroyed by fire last year. It will rise from ashes only if “we” help rebuild it.
That message comes from Rita McReynolds, who chairs the tower fund-raising committee. Her words should strike a chord with anyone who has ever spent time on High Knob atop that old tower. “It is the people’s tower and we need the people in order to rebuild it,” McReynolds says.
How true. For as much as visitors to the area have enjoyed the stunning views, that tower doesn’t hold the same special place in their hearts. Here at home, it had become entwined in the fabric of our lives. We don’t want it rebuilt because of tourists, but for us.
The efforts of county native Jack Hatcher and The Texas Club bring home how far High Knob really reaches. The place touches the memories of members of this post World War II social club. They grew up in its shadow, Hatcher recalls, and have taken this bit of life history with them where ever their lives took them.
While big bucks from big donors make big strides toward the $572,000 goal, we must not forget the importance of the smallest donation. Consider the “What if’s.”
At every Friday night ball game, cheerleaders typically sell programs. Fans routinely give without a second thought, recognizing that their small donation isn’t as much about the program they hold in their hands as it is about helping cheerleaders and athletics. If asked, these same fans would probably chip in an extra dollar if the money was going to another worthy cause — rebuilding the High Knob tower.
When fans line up for refreshments at the concession stand, they buy popcorn, hotdogs and soft drinks knowing that proceeds go to athletic or band boosters. If they were asked to donate their change to the fund for rebuilding High Knob tower, they’d likely say, sure, keep the change for a good cause.
Those nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars might not seem like much, but they would really start to add up if every single solitary adult and student organization in Wise County made a point to include the High Knob tower rebuilding fund in their own fund-raising efforts.
Every penny counts. Take up the cause and, together, we will rebuild High Knob tower.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
