At a Glance: Sale of Chimney Rock Park
Source: wral.com, by The Associated Press
January 29, 2007
Facts and figures on the state's purchase of privately owned Chimney Rock Park, announced Monday by Gov. Mike Easley.
THE PRICE TAG:
- The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation will spend $24 million to buy the park owned by the Morse family.
- $15 million from a state budget appropriation.
- $1.51 million from state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
- $1.8 million from state Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
- $1.54 million from state Clean Water Management Trust Fund.
- $2.35 million from anonymous private donor.
- $1.8 million (anticipated) from state Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
THE FUTURE PARK:
- The state had acquired 2,264 acres of land for Hickory Nut Gorge State Park by the end of 2006.
- The purchase of Chimney Rock Park, due to close in May 2007, will add 996 acres to the planned park.
CHIMNEY ROCK PARK:
- Location: 25 miles southeast of Asheville in Rutherford County.
- Visitors: Averages 250,000 annually.
- Employees: 28 full-time, about 20 seasonal.
- Star attraction: Chimney Rock, a 315-foot-tall formation, 2,280 feet above sea level, accessed via 198-foot tunnel in the mountain and an elevator that climbs 26 stories.
- Also worth seeing: 404-foot Hickory Nut Falls, a network of hiking trails and a nature center.
- Backdrop: Filming location for "A Breed Apart" (1984), "Firestarter" (1984), and "The Last of the Mohicans (1992).
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