News About Town: During Monday’s Board meeting, Council approved of exemption from GS 143-64.31, allowing staff to move forward in obtaining engineering/design services for the creation of construction documents for Outen Pottery Park (430 Jefferson St.) since they will be below $50,000.
Outen Pottery Park is being developed from the remains of RF Outen’s pottery studio, which produced utilitarian earthenware and stoneware for local use from local clays. Outen Pottery later became known as Matthews Pottery (a long-time retail establishment that eventually moved to Stallings before closing in the late 90s.) The passive park may feature preserved pottery kilns reconstructed by Taylor Clay pro bono. The completed site will include a walking trail, historical features, and seating areas. (See a 2017 rendering of the project possibilities here.)
Thank you to reader Amanda McGrath for sharing a beautiful moment at the Matthews Veterans Memorial. Share your photo with Beacon readers, just send something over!
News Around Town: Demolition has started on the old box warehouse owned by Hood Container Corp., 433 E John St. (Most people know of the building as a maligned traffic stop where tractor trailers would halt vehicle flow and back into the loading dock. ) The warehouse stored paper that ultimately became big chain pizza boxes, Build-a-Bear packaging, and shoe boxes at Stronghaven, just up the street on Monroe Rd.
Built in 1960, and prior to housing paper, the warehouse was a manufacturing facility for electrical transformers. According to NCDEQ documents, solvent releases of PCE caused contaminated groundwater. The ground is an NCDEQ Brownfield Site and the soil is deeply polluted, which will require environmental remediation prior to new development.
One Good Thing: The Portrait Gallery, 118 E Charles St., still has a few spaces left for their upcoming wine pairing dinner on Tuesday, November 16. The dinner includes four courses paired with four wines for $60 a person. Call 704-369-9982 or email info@pgmatthews to reserve.