INSIDE... Obituaries ................. 4 Police Report ............ 5 School News ............ 7 Classified Ads ........... 7 Sports ..................... 3
Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton and McAdenville
Volume 79 • Issue 48 • Wednesday, November 26, 2014
75¢
Mercy Heritage Center honors Civil War nurses By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Medical care for sick or wounded soldiers in the Civil War centered around misery, dirt, and blood – that is until the Sisters of Mercy nurses arrived on the scene. Now, an exciting exhibit to those brave and hard-working Catholic women is getting set to open at the Mercy Heritage Center on the Sisters of Mercy campus in Belmont. The exhibit chronicles the role the nuns played in hospitals on and off the battlefield tending to Confederate and Union soldiers. The main attraction in the exhibit features a Civil War-type tent and “wounded soldier” lying inside. Another mannikin dressed in an 1860s Sister of Mercy habit stands near the tent holding a bible, ready to succor the injured man. Other items displayed in Photo by Alan Hodge the exhibit are on eight large This photo and quote by Abe Lincoln is panels and in- part of the Mercy Heritage Center’s exclude Civil War hibit on the Sisters of Mercy nurses in the photos show- Civil War. ing Sisters of Mercy nurses, dead and wounded troops, explanations of the role the Sisters of Mercy played in the conflict, quotes by folks like Abe Lincoln and Jeff Davis expressing their admiration for the work, art, and more. See MERCY, page 2
Photo by Alan Hodge
Sister Paula Diann is seen with the hospital tent that’s part of the Mercy Heritage Center exhibit illustrating the work the Sisters of Mercy did in the Civil War.
Duke Energy files plan for Riverbend Steam Station coal ash By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Duke Energy has filed a plan to remove around three million tons of coal ash to Eastern North Carolina where it will be placed in clay mines formerly used by brick makers. About one million tons of the ash will come from the decommissioned Riverbend Steam Station on Mountain Island Lake near Mount Holly. The lake provides drinking water for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Gastonia, and Mount Holly. The mines are located in Lee and Chatham counties. The ash will be placed in lined pits and the clay beneath will also keep it from getting into groundwater. The plans detail the proposed amount of ash being moved in the first phase, its destination, how it will be transported, safety and environmental protection measures and permits required. The plans also outline work to identify solutions for the remaining ash at each location and will be updated and submitted to NC DENR annually or earlier as required by subsequent phases. The coal ash stored at Riverbend is in lagoons and has been called one of the four “riskiest” Duke Energy ash storage sites in North Carolina. Over five million tons of coal ash are stored at Riverbend. Removal of the ash at Riverbend could start in March 2015. The majority of it is slated to be taken to a clay pit in Moncure, a town southwest of Raleigh. A secondary site would be a mine near Sanford. See COAL ASH, page 2
Chronicle Mill owner John Church (right) and consultant Demetri Baches with Metrocology are seen at the mill site they plan to transform into a civic, community, and retail complex.
Chronicle Mill project update By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The recent installation of shiny new metal downspouts on what was Belmont's oldest cotton mill, the circa 1901 Chronicle on E. Catawba, means progress is being made on transforming the red brick edifice of the once thriving textile industry into a retail, commercial, and civic centerpiece. Last year, John Church, CEO of Waterstone Asset Management and Chyrch Realty, bought the abandoned mill but wasn't exactly sure what to do with it. Since that time, his plans for the 150,000 sq. ft. complex have started jelling. “I thought about tearing it down,” Church said. “But after peeling back the layers of brick, decided to save it.” The mill has an interesting past, intertwined with that of Belmont as a whole. Chronicle Mill was built in 1901 by R.L. Stowe and other investors. Workers who laid the bricks for the imposing three-story structure earned $1.75 for every thousand they put down. Timber and other lumber used in the building cost $13 per thousand board feet delivered to the site. The mill’s name was chosen to honor a Revolutionary War patriot from Gaston County, Major William Chronicle, who had lived near where the mill would be built and was killed in the Battle of King’s Mountain in October 1780. The first bale of cotton was fed into the Chronicle Mill’s steam-powered machinery on Feb. 28, 1902. By 1908, the mill was powered by electricity, a
move that doubled production. In time, countless cones of cotton thread would be spun at the Chronicle Mill until it finally shut down several years ago. Following its closing, the mill machinery was sold and the Photos by Alan Hodge building sat vacant- until Church Chronicle Mill owner John Church looks at and his dream came along. Last autumn saw workers some of the structure's original yellow pine begin the first phase of rejuvenat- beams that came from trees that could have ing the building. Bricks that had been 400 years old when they were cut blocked windows were knocked around 1901. out and light shone on the mill's maple floors for the first time in a hotel and more including two pentlong time. Church also brought in folks houses. to look at and fix leaks in the roof. A “In the next few weeks we will fence was put around the property for finalize the concept for the building safety and security. A humongous and spaces,” Baches said. “Then we will ancient air conditioning system was create a marketing brochure. The rest torn off and taken to the scrap heap. “We tidied the place up,” Church will be driven by tenant demand.” The project will not be cheap or a said. quick “flip”, but Church is in it for the More recently, Church hired consultant Demetri Baches, founder and prin- long haul. “It could take five or six years and cipal of Metrocology, to advise him on the mill's future and to lay out a plan ten to twenty million dollars to comof action. Structurally, a special win- plete,” he said. dow screen system is currently being Interest in the Chronicle Mill projinstalled to let air in and keep rain out. ect is out there. The mill has over 100 windows. “I've given over 100 tours of the Now that the mill is ready for its mill,” Church said. next phase, what visions do Church One of the tourists was U.S. Conand Baches have for it? gressman Patrick McHenry. The possibilities are exciting. Ideas Church sees the completed project include retail and office space, a twoas a way to bring jobs and revenue to story glass atrium, a large meeting Belmont, but more than that. space Church has already dubbed “This is a big chance to create a “Chronicle Hall”, a park-like setting for the 6 ½ acre property, a brewery, unique community gathering place,” he distillery, restaurant, amphitheater, said. “It could be the hub of Belmont.”
Unusual vehicles are Ray Vanni’s passion By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
“Everybody needs a hobby.” That's what 88-year-old Ray Vanni of Mount Holly says and in his case that statement has led him to own, restore, and replicate a variety of unusual military and civilian vehicles. Vanni, a Buffalo, N.Y. native who served in the military from 1944 to 1986, and who moved to Mount Holly with his wife Marian about 18 months ago to live with his stepdaughter Maj. Sherri Ortiz, admits his interest in modes of transportation began early. “Since I was seven years old I've been fascinated by airplanes and vehicles,” he said. Photo by Alan Hodge Vanni joined the Air Force in 1944 and did a va- Ray Vanni is seen on Main St. in Mount Holly with his interpretation riety of jobs including serving as a flight engineer of a 1990s Cold War Military Police car- complete with a row of on the B-32 bomber. (inert) hand grenades on the dashboard. Vanni missed combat but also worked as a mechanic at the military airfield at Greensboro where Once, Vanni gave a “tour” of the inside of a tank to film he picked up many of the skills he would later use to restar Elizabeth Taylor who he called a “living dream”- but store his own vehicles. In addition, he was part of a military that's another story. recon unit and became familiar with everything from tanks While in the military, Vanni began “flipping” cars- figto jeeps. uratively not literally. “They were wild vehicles and used wildly,” Vanni said. See VANNI, page 2