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The two buildings that remain from the old Mineral Springs School campus are destined to become our town hall and a future community center. I worked hard to convince Raley-Miller properties and Harris-Teeter to sell us these buildings, along with a total of 2.45 acres of land for future expansion of our municipal campus.
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| We have completed work on the first of the two buildings, the 2500 square foot 1960's-era former library building (shown "pre-renovation" on the right) located on Potter Road a block from Highway 75. This building was in excellent structural condition, and was a bargain for taxpayers at a purchase price of $100,000 including 1.05 acres of land. Construction of your new town hall began on October 20, 2008, and was completed in early May 2009. Pease Associates of Charlotte was responsible for design work, and Book Construction of Union County was the general contractor. Total construction cost, including the addition of 600 square feet, was approximately $482,000; architectural work and preconstruction expenses amounted to approximately $48,000 more. |
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Utilizing funds saved for the purpose, the town purchased this fine 1930's-era solid rock former agriculture building adjoining the library building in 2010. Built in the depression era with federal funds, this historic structure was the third building erected on the original Mineral Springs School campus.
My policy, and the policy of your town council, is to acquire these properties without debt and without the accompanying long-term payments. As a result, this building and 1.4 acres of land were purchased for $140,000 without borrowing and the town of Mineral Springs remains debt-free.
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| While the solid stone walls of the Agriculture Building were in great condition, the roof was leaky and, in fact, long-term leaks had rotted many roof rafters to the point where serious structural damage was imminent. Furthermore, the original windows, fascia, and other trim were rotting and deteriorating.
In 2011, the town council hired Godfrey Construction of Wingate to repair the roof structure, install a standing-seam metal roof matching the town hall, replace rotted trim, repair and reglaze the windows, including constructing several new sashes to match the originals, and paint all trim. The building is now structurally sound and completely weathertight. Pictured at right is the finished product.
In the spring of 2016, our new park opened next to the town hall. Now that the park is completed, the town deciding the best use for the old Agriculture Building that would provide the most benefit for Mineral Springs residents. Again, we are waiting to save enough money to complete any such project without debt.
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I am proud that your town council and I completed these projects to provide the Town of Mineral Springs with such fine governmental facilities on-time, on-budget, and without debt! Not only did we save the taxpayers money, we also saved two pieces of Mineral Springs history that might otherwise have been destroyed forever.
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