week of 10/29/03
 
 
 
  Plan for Christian theme park at Ghost Town emerges on election’s eve
By Becky Johnson

A plan by a group of politicians and business people to acquire Ghost Town and turn it into a Christian theme park-retreat has thrown another issue into the Maggie Valley election.

Alderman Linda Taylor and mayoral candidate Jo Pinter say they have been working for two years on a plan to redevelop Ghost Town — a plan that includes a new $5 million gondola, a conference center and auditorium, an outside amphitheater, a recreated Holy Land, interactive Christian exhibits, restaurants, some 250 employees, the satellite broadcast of a Christian television station, and year-round operations.

Taylor and Pinter said they had a vision that led them to the idea. They have brought on several partners during the two-year evolution of the plan, including Alaska Pressley, a long-time resident of the Valley, and Alderman Marcus Fields, a newcomer who helped with some of the new development at Maggie Valley Country Club. The group says they have finally completed engineering and business plans and are now close to obtaining financing for the project.

Ghost Town owner R.B. Coburn confirmed that he has discussed the project with the group and that they have visited the property.

Another group, however, who is against the project, has launched a campaign to discredit Fields. They say that if Pinter is elected, she, Taylor and Fields will get the town mired in the project. This group, led in part by Waynesville resident Wade Reece, backs Alderman Roger McElroy for mayor. However, they had no candidates from their political camp to promote for alderman. So the group has launched a write-in campaign for two alderman candidates — former police chief Saralyn Price and Alderman Al Pinto.

“We need an honest board, not one that’s there for self-benefit. If some of those that are running are elected, the only reason they are running is for greed,” said Reece. He believes Taylor, Pinter and Fields will try to tap into town money for the project if they gain a majority on the town board.

Reece points to a failed business project by Fields in Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s as proof the Ghost Town deal is no good. According to articles in the Bedford Springs Gazette, a newspaper in Pennsylvania, Fields embarked on a project to restore and redevelop a historic hotel and 3,000-acre resort and golf course that once served as a summer retreat for presidents. Grant money was available to aid the renovation project, but Fields never produce dthe matching funds required to get the project off the ground, according to Jo Lurie, the executive director of the Bedford, Penn., development authority at the time.

“The fact is that nothing ever happened (with the project). It took money to refurbish,” Lurie said. “You can’t do things with other people’s money when you don’t have money of your own.”

Fields said “that’s not the case,” that the state had promised grant money and contributions to the project but never followed through. Fields said he lost money on the project.

Taylor was livid when she learned about the latest rumor.

Taylor said Reece’s attempt to discredit the Ghost Town project is a last-ditch attempt to get his write-in candidates elected and keep the current town administration in control rather than see the majority power base on the town board shift.

“That’s their tactic. They go up and down the Valley putting doubt in people’s mind,” said Jo Pinter, mayor candidate. “I would rather not win than participate in mud slinging.”

Fields, Taylor and Pinter discounted Reece’s accusations and said they have no plan to use their seats on the town board to get money or backing from the town.

“I’ve not received a dime from anyone. I’m spending my own money on the project,” Fields said. “We just hope someone gets the mountain who can do something with it. That’s the main thing.”

Taylor said Fields actually cautioned them against bringing the town on board.

“He said ‘You don’t want the town involved in a project. Let me tell you what happened in Pennsylvania,’ and he told us the horror story,” Taylor said. “We are trying to help the town, not get something from the town.”