Denny Mecham and Barbara Setzer handed a tiny gold shovel pin to each person who came to Tuesday’s groundbreaking of the new Waterworks Visual Arts Center.
“We wanted a keepsake ... because this is something special for us,” said Mecham, Waterworks’ executive director. An upbeat crowd of about 75 turned turned out for the milestone in the center’s 42-year history.
While no ground was actually broken at the old McCanless automobile dealership on East Liberty Street, the capital campaign leaders and others celebrated the end of the major phase of fund-raising by tossing a few shovelfuls of dirt. Officials hope to complete the renovation project by Dec. 31, 2002.
“The past 24 months have been absolutely amazing. This thing has moved with amazing speed,” said Foster Owen, president of the Waterworks Board of Directors. He noted that non-profit projects are not known for quick progress.
Owen thanked donors, many of them present, for their generosity. He also thanked the Waterworks staff and praised the board for its tenacity, wisdom and hard work — and ability to get along with one another.
Owen told the audience, “The building you’re standing in will be finished by the end of next year.” He turned and raised an eyebrow to Clay Lindsay of Summit Developers, the firm hired to renovate the building, and said, “Right, Clay?”
For their impressive fund-raising efforts, Owen singled out Chris Whitton and Margaret Kluttz, “two of the most incredible people I’ve worked with.”
Whitton and Kluttz spearheaded a capital campaign that has exceeded its goal of $2 million. Whitton said, “Now we’re in the second phase of fund-raising. We would like to raise at least half a million for our endowment, which will help run the center.”
Paul Fisher of F&M Bank, which donated the building to Waterworks, also attended Thursday’s ceremony.He spoke of the inception of the project as “the day we sat around and dreamed and colored and didn’t stay in the lines.”
Before the ceremony, Fisher spoke of the need for an infusion of culture in downtown Salisbury. “Business has to have other things to go along with it to create a sense of place,” he said. “Instead of administrative offices, (we wanted to) create something special to blend, to go along with the business aspect of the block.”
Fisher hopes that the finished block, including the planned Waterworks complex, will become a community gathering place.
Fisher’s son, Steven, credited with giving form and focus to his father’s original vision, said, “It wasn’t my vision. It was a community vision.” Steven Fisher officially turned over the building to Waterworks with a housewarming bottle of wine for the Waterworks staff.
“Next year we’ll sit in the Century Garden and drink that bottle of wine,” Steven Fisher joked. Paul Fisher shot back quickly, “So that’s where all that vision comes from.”
Margaret Kluttz, co-chair of the fund-raising campaign, said, “We have a real responsibility to do the right things. To whom much is given, much is expected. And much will be expected of Waterworks ... and the community who will support this.”
The largest regional art exhibition ever presented by Waterworks will open this Friday at the the gallery’s present location. A reception is schedule from 6 to 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Contact Katie Scarvey at 704-797-4273 or kscarvey@salisburypost.com
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