Park Service OKs 'Cube' demo

Mount Airy officials have gotten the green light to demolish an iconic building known as “The Cube” on the former Spencer’s industrial site, where construction plans also are progressing for a convention center.

Those developments were disclosed at a Thursday night council meeting by City Manager Darren Lewis.

Both The Cube, named for its shape, and a companion Dye House facility had figured prominently in city government plans to redevelop the old textile property with the help of historic mill tax credits.

This included possibly transforming The Cube area into a new visitors/convention center and a separate portion into an events center for groups booking rooms at the Balladeer hotel under development in the nearby Sparger Building of Spencer’s.

At one time, space in The Cube also was eyed for a culinary institute to teach students how to be chefs.

However, the deteriorated condition of the two facilities, along with a neighboring one known as The Cube Annex, prompted city officials to take the demolition route.

Although a contract for that was awarded in June, the actual work was halted pending approval from the National Park Service, which helps administer federal historic tax credits that support new uses for architecturally valuable buildings.

Mount Airy officials did not want to jeopardize tax credits for the hotel project by razing The Cube and other facilities that also were part of the credits picture.

The Cube and Cube Annex are located to the rear of the hotel site that faces Willow Street, along with the Dye House.

Lewis, in response to a question Thursday night from Commissioner Tom Koch, said the National Park Service had signed off on the demolition to allow it to proceed.

This is expected to begin in mid-August, according to the city manager.

D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. based in Greensboro was awarded the contract for the job in June and was standing by to launch the demo.

It is expected to take about 30 to 45 days, depending on the weather, Lewis said.

Convention center plans

In a related development, the city of Mount Airy has just issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) notice for professional architectural and engineering services involving the conference center project.

This will facilitate the design and construction of a 20,000-to-25,000-square-foot conference/convention center at the Spencer’s Mill redevelopment site.

“As currently envisioned, the facility should be designed to accommodate conferences with up to 250 attendees and include one large ballroom, multiple (two to three) breakout rooms and other programmable spaces for exhibits and meetings,” the notice states.

Aug. 30 is the deadline for architectural/engineering firms to submit RFQ responses to the city.

The new center will be funded through a $13 million allocation last year from the state Legislature.