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County agrees to buy Christian school campus

Henderson County may finally have its own gym, and it may have its first artificial turf field.

The Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday night to buy the 9.5-acre Hendersonville Christian School property, which includes a gym and classroom building, and agreed also to spend money on improvements to the  property and to Jackson Park.

In all, the commissioners agreed to spend $2.2 million on the school property, making improvements to use it for an array of indoor and outdoor recreation programs and fixing Jackson Park so it can better serve youth leagues and compete for regional tournaments.
Three out of four commissioners present — Larry Young was absent —strongly endorsed the purchase of the school property and voted for the purchase. Vice Chairman Bill O'Connor voted no, saying he has many concerns about the cost of the property and the cost of ongoing maintenance of that property and Jackson Park.
The board voted to pay $910,000 for the property, about $200,000 less than the price listed by the Christian school, which went out of business last spring and put the property on the market.

The only question mark appeared to be whether the bank that holds two mortgages worth around $900,000 would accept the $910,000 offer. Hendersonville Christian School officials have not said what other liabilities the corporation needs to settle if any.

With the purchase came the county's commitment to spend $1,017,020 on startup costs, including $635,000 for an artificial turf playfield and lights for nighttime play. The board committed to an annual appropriation of $186,200 to pay a fulltime recreation programming supervisor and maintenance technician and cover other operating costs like electricity, insurance and equipment.
And the commissioners agreed to spend $284,000 for Jackson Park improvements, a concern which arose because board members said they didn't want start something new while the county's main recreation asset continued to deteriorate.

Speakers agreed with both the new purchase and fixing of the old. Jackson Park, said the coaches who work with young players there and Little League leaders, is far below the standard of ballfields in surrounding counties in the mountains including several smaller than Henderson County.

The school property also meets the top two needs identified in a 2007 recreation facilities study. The study ranked soccer fields and a recreation center as the top two priorities. An indoor gym and recreation center has actually been a county priority since the 1970s, Doug Moon, a former county recreation director and now the manager of the Opportunity House, told the commissioners.

The board's decision, and the near unanimous public support for the purchase, was a stark reversal from the scene a year ago when angry crowds filled the Historic Courthouse meeting room to hoot down the County Commission's plan to buy the Highland Lake Golf Course for use as a soccer complex. This time the process has been more open. The board talked openly about the purchase in public meetings before commiting to a purchase, and it opened the floor Wednesday night for all who wanted to speak for or against the recreation investment.

"This is kind of like a dream come true," said Commissioner Charlie Messer, who has served for many years on the Recreation Advisory Board. "It is a lot of money. This is a great opportunity for us as county commissioners to step to the plate and do the right thing.... We need to do this. I'm willing to do this."
Thompson said the county needs to make improvements to Jackson Park but also ought to seize the opportunity to buy the Christian school campus. He cautioned, too, that the board had to come up with almost $2 million for the purchase (including improvements like lights and artificial turf) plus annual operating costs.
"We're not only paying $910,000 and putting another million into it but we've got to come up with another $200,000 (a year) to make it work," he said. "I'm for this acquisition. I think we need to pay for it, and not go into debt."

The county has enough in reserves to buy the property without borrowing. Wyatt presented borrowing as an option, though, because the county has been enjoying savings on historically low interest rates.

In agreeing to buy the school property, the board shot down the idea of moving any other non-recreation function onto the campus. One idea had been to move the Elections Board there, since that office is currently in rented space. But Commissioners agreed the entire 9.5-acre site should be devoted to recreation, workshops, classes and other uses.

Wyatt said county officials had had discussions with Blue Ridge Community College about renting the gym. The college needs gym space for the physical fitness requirements for its basic law enforcement program, phys-ed classes for students planning to transfer to four-year colleges and emergency medical science programs.