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Good news for great people! Volume 88 • Issue 3
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Community Public Charter School in Stanley set to expand By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Community Public Charter School in Stanley is going to build a new school to house its growing enrollment. Plans for a 47-room school are drawn up for the new facility slated for a 36-acre site on Mariposa Rd. just past Stanley Environmental. “We are in final negotiations for the land,” said school founder Eddie McGinnis. “We hope to have the new building open in August, 2023.” Cost of the facility will be around $20 million. It will be paid for by a private bond offering. The contractor is Durham-based Hubrich Contracting. “They have built several charter schools across North Carolina,” said McGinnis. Mussman Architects is handling the design. The new building will initially house grades K-8, with more to come. “Hopefully, we will add high school starting with 9th grade in 2023-2024,” McGinnis said. The new building is needed to cope with the growth that CPCS has experienced since it first opened just a few years ago. McGinnis, the former East Gaston High principal, hatched the idea of a charter school in 2016 when he was pastor at Community Pentecostal Center on Ralph Handsel Blvd. After jumping through the hoops required by the state to establish a charter school, Community Charter opened its doors in late summer,
2019, with around 220 students in grades K-5. Since then, the numbers have climbed steadily. By 2020, the school had 350 kids. This year, there are 470 students. Next year the number is expected to be 580 with 700 on the rolls by the time the new building is done. Students come from Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, and Cleveland counties. A tour of the current school campus reveals three shiny pre-fab buildings with classrooms, a gym, office space, and a nice playground area. A fourth mobile unit is planned for next year. The mobile units are leased. McGinnis says that when the new building is opened, the mobile units will be removed. If a student needs transportation to and from school, Community Public Charter has two buses that run routes to Iron Station, Mt. Holly, Belmont, and Dallas. What explains the success that Community Public Charter is seeing? “We have hired good staff, we have a great school board, and we make sure we get the teachers what they need,” said McGinnis. “It has taken a lot of time, effort, and manpower, but the results are proving to be everything we hoped for.” In addition, the school’s credo includes the following words- “We emphasize the importance of character, kindness, and community”. “We teach American values,” said McGinnis. “We start every day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic song. We also have a rigorous academic program with the Core See SCHOOL, Page 4
Lowell plans new park City of Lowell story Situated at 1602 North Main Street, Lowell, is a retired dye plant that has not been in operation since 2004. This property has been an eyesore to the community since the former dye plant shut its doors. This 17.02 acre site boasts over 850 feet of frontage along the South Fork River and has over 25 abandoned structures from the previous dye plant. Residential neighborhoods are the predominant adjacent land uses, as well as Gaston County’s Poston Park to the north. On December 14, 2021 the Lowell City Council unanimously voted to receive donation of the property to pursue a brownfield redevelopment of the site. The architecture firm, Creech and Associates was selected in the August of 2021 to perform the conceptual master plan for this site. This process involved a high-level rendering of what amenities and layout of the site could look like. The planned redevelopment of this site would include: a new location for the City’s Public Works Facility and many recreational amenities such as: -Connection to the -Fishing pier Carolina Thread Trail -Kayak launch -Outdoor classrooms -Banquet hall -Multiple playgrounds -Picnic shelters -Amphitheater See PARK, Page 4
Community Public Charter School kindergarten students in Ms. Speas’ class enjoying their lessons.
Belmont’s Auten-Stowe American Legion Post 144 celebrating its centennial By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
One of Belmont’s most venerable and respected organizations- the Auten-Stowe American Legion Post 144- is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Post 144 got its start on March 20, 1921 when a group of WWI Belmont veterans decided to form an American Legion Post. It was decided to name it after two Belmont lads who had been killed in the war- William Auten and Charles Stowe. A year later, March 29, 1922, Post 144 received its charter. For many years, Post 144 members met at a building called the “Community Center”. In 1952, the headquarters were located to its current location on Park Dr. near Davis Park. Over the decades, Post 144 has been active in many civic affairs. In 1922, it organized the first volunteer fire dept. in Belmont. The group was instrumental in seeing that a memorial was built in Greenwood Cemetery honoring local WWI soldiers who had been killed in action. This monument was dedicated on August 15, 1922. Post 144 has also made it pos-
Auten-Stowe American Legion Post 144 members with the organization’s original charter. From left- Art Shoemaker, Barry Smith, Tommy Christopher. sible each year since the 1960s for local students to attend the one-week Boys and Girls State seminar held at Catawba College. This program allows the students to study politics and government during their stay. Post 144 was also active in the campaign that saw the Spirit of the Fighting Yank WWII memorial statue moved from its former location at Belmont Middle School to
front and center at Stowe Park. Seeing the statue in its current location is a highlight of any visit to downtown Belmont. Each Memorial Day, Post 144 places American flags on veteran graves in Greenwood Cemetery and other locations. It also organizes Memorial Day and Veterans Day events. See LEGION, Page 3