FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: April 7, 2009

Contact: Hillsborough Planning Director Margaret Hauth, 732-1270 Ext.
86 or margaret.hauth@hillsboroughnc.org

Planned Bellevue Mill Project in Hillsborough May See Changes

HILLSBOROUGH — The public is invited to a presentation Wednesday,
April 8, on the planned renovation of the former Flynt Fabrics mill
into apartments.

The meeting — at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Cloth Building on Nash Street
— will include potential modifications to the special-use permit that
was approved in 2007 for the Bellevue Mill project.

That permit allows the renovation of the historic portion of the
former mill building. The approved plan calls for 85 apartments and a
2,000-square-foot leasing office.

The owners, who had the Nash Street property listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, are seeking a development partner to
complete the project. The approval is valid through Sept. 1 and may be
extended upon request. Applicants have two years from the date of
approval to secure construction permits or to seek an approval
extension from the Hillsborough Town Board.

The Town Board will discuss the developer’s proposed modifications
during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 13 in the Town Barn,
located on the Town Hall campus at 101 E. Orange St.

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–
Catherine Wright
public information officer
Town of Hillsborough
Office: 919-732-1270 Ext. 82
Fax: 919-644-2390
catherine.wright@hillsboroughnc.org
www.ci.hillsborough.nc.us

Here’s an interesting video of an artist community bring built in Shepherdstown, WV. Might something like this work in the site of the old Bellevue Mill?

Last year, Hillsborough resident and UNC Associate Professor Tom Campanella had his Site Planning and Urban Design class envision a train stop that incorporated an arts center on 20 acres of land in the middle of town, which the town recently acquired.

Attached are the design sketches. The design was borrowed from Ramapo College’s Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts (using a SketchUp 3D Warehouse module).

The Cultural Center Committee recognizes this as a potential site for the Cultural Center.

The Cultural Center Committee had an excellent fact-finding trip to the Prizery in South Boston, VA yesterday. Prizery Executive Director Chris Jones ran through the entire history of how the building came to be, how their foundation came up with financing, and how their community partners interact.

We stayed for an excellent dinner at Bistro 1888, then went on to see the Prizery’s staging of Greater Tuna. The committee was very impressed with both the quality of the performance space and the show. We can’t thank Chris enough for all of his time, and for helping to lead us down the path.

We got an exclusive tour of their Crossing of the Dan permanent exhibit. The exhibit recounts a key military event in the Revolutionary War that led to the American victory. This event is very interesting to us as Hillsborough residents, since Cornwallis passed through town during this campaign. We thought it would if we could set up a similar exhibit in Hillsborough. The grand opening for it is tomorrow, Saturday the 26th.

We will continue to be in touch with Chris as we continue our process.

P.S. There are two more shows of Greater Tuna this weekend, if you were thinking of driving to a great little town to take in dinner and a show.

On Tuesday, July 22, members of the Cultural Center Committee toured the soon-to-be vacated Whitted building to see how it might work as a cultural center.  The Whitted building currently houses the Orange County central public library and the Department of Social Services.  We are thankful to Andrea Tullos, assistant to the Director of the library for the tour.

The committee took some of the preliminary measurements, and is seeking a more formal floor plan of the building.  The plans will be matched with the projected space needs for the center.

A group of 8 members of the Cultural Center Committee are heading to South Boston, Virginia tomorrow to learn about the Prizery.  The Prizery serves as a “welcome center, a performing arts theatre, an art gallery, classrooms and a large space for community functions.”  Renovated in 2002, the building is state-of-the art.

We will be speaking with Executive Director Chris Jones, who has seen the building of the Prizery from start to finish.  We go with a collection of questions, such as how they came to organize the Community Arts Center Foundation, which owns the Prizery.  The Foundation has several partner organizations, most of which have a seat on the board of the Foundation.