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Tweetsie Railroad, Watauga County enter partnership |
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
by Edward Sztukowski
Intern News Reporter
Tweetsie Railroad and Watauga County entered into an agreement May 22 that would keep the railroad in its current location until 2065.
According to the official partnership agreement on the Watauga County Web site, in September 2007, Harry Robbins, one of the two primary stockholders of Tweetsie, died. Robbins left his widow, Barbara Robbins, as the last stockholder.
According to a previous agreement, Barbara was compelled to sell her share of the stock. Chris Robbins, son of H. Robbins and president of Tweetsie, wanted to buy the stock and become the primary shareholder.
Chris feared termination or relocation of the park was possible if a third party became the primary shareholder.
Watauga County and Tweetsie then entered into a deal where the county would loan Robbins money for him to buy the stock.
The leases on the land the railroad occupies ran out at the end of the
2006-07 season; however, Tweetsie was able to extend most of the leases
of all the land.
The exception was two minority land owners, who instead of extending
their leases, wished to sell the land to the railroad instead.
According to a press release, Watauga County will buy the land for $3.15 million.
The county will lease the land to Tweetsie for $1 a year for six years
as long as the railroad will buy the land back from the county with
interest, in addition to staying in its current location until the year
2065.
After six years, Tweetsie will pay regular market prices for the land.
“Tweetsie contributes an estimated $27 million to the economy in the
area,” said Joe Furman, the economic developer for Watauga County.
“This includes its impact on restaurants, motels, hotels and tourism.”
The Watauga Tourism Development Authority has also committed $200, 000
to the land purchase, as well as an annual grant of $150, 000 for
Tweetsie to use for marketing of the theme park for six years.
This money will come from funds generated from tourism, according to Furman.
Tweetsie and Watauga County have been in discussion for a number of months about the collaboration.
“We’ve been talking for a few months about the deal, but really we’ve
always been in communication with Tweetsie. They are an important part
of our economy,” said Furman.
Before the proposal was agreed to, other surrounding counties were
interested in the railroad moving to other locations in their county.
“Caldwell and Wilkes [counties] both wanted Tweetsie to move into their
counties, but Tweetsie didn’t really want to. So we’re going to support
them for their continued contribution to the area,” said Furman. “It’s
an important deal; it’s basically win-win.”
Tweetsie Railroad is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
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