SWEPSONVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — Leaders of the Town of Swepsonville in Alamance County are exploring ways to build a downtown district from the ground up.
It would go where the Virginia Mills Property once was. The town purchased the property in 2010. Since then, it’s just sat. Now, the town council and the mayor are looking to convert the 22 acres into a focal point for the community.
“We’ve outgrown our town hall,” Swepsonville Mayor Henry Carrouth said.
Carrouth said the town council is looking to build a new town hall along with a downtown district.
“This town has never had a downtown, sort of town center area,” Carrouth said.
This would become a new focal point for the small town of about 2,700 people.
“We started looking at the possibility of building a new townhome in a town center with some possible residential and also some retail space on the property. … it would be nice if people had a coffee shop that they could come and have a cup of coffee without having to go to another town,” Carrouth said.
The town council held a public comment earlier this week where they heard from different community members on whether they support the idea or would like to see something else.
“I was asked the other night at a public comment about … the townhome and those costs. We’re one of only seven municipalities in the state of North Carolina that don’t have property tax,” Carrouth said.
Carrouth said that won’t be changing.
“We’re going to be able to do it with reserves that we’ve accumulated over the years, borrowing,” Carrouth said.
Carrouth said it will cost about $5 million to $6 million for site preparations and building the town hall.
One woman said she wasn’t in support of the project because she likes the small town feel. Carrouth said that’s something the council is considering.
“We want to maintain that quality of life and don’t want to deal with all the hassles that come with some of the areas around us that are exploding in growth,” Carrouth said.
Jason Belcher and Mack Wyrick both support the idea.
“If there’s an opportunity to grow here, because it is a small community, I think that is great. I think that’s a good thing,” Belcher sid.
“There’s no business in Watsonville. It could be a bad thing for it,” Wyrick said.
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Carrouth said that right now, they’re working with state departments on the site plan.
“This Brownfields program evaluates properties for their environmental safety for people to live, to work, to play on,” Carrouth said.
Carrouth said that in an ideal world, they would be able to have the new town hall built in two to three years. He hopes they can accomplish that, but this is a process they want to do right.