The banks of the Little Tennessee in Macon County may soon become the location of Mayberry, a 1950s-themed 88-acre shopping center.

James Vanderwoude hopes to build the complex of shops, restaurants, lodging, picnic areas and recreational businesses - like bicycle and canoe rentals - that “evoke the feeling of hometown America” like Mayberry, from The Andy Griffith Show.

“We’re trying to create nostalgic North Carolina. Old buildings are disappearing; the heart of rural America is disappearing. People are looking for the Mayberry of North Carolina, or at least that feel. And we’re trying to recreate that,” Vanderwoude says.

He is originally from Wisconsin and had been working in development, real estate and banking in south Florida. He first came to Franklin 30 years ago during his honeymoon to the Smoky Mountains with his wife Lois, but did not move to the area until a year ago when he established the Whistle Stop Mall.

Vanderwoude wants to avoid fostering a tourist town that looks like Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg.

“We want a quality environment. We want to avoid that sprawl and avoid that tacky, commercial look, though we might have some of the same retailers.”

Mayberry buildings will be constructed and leased to vendors.

“For example, if Cracker Barrel wanted to come here,” Vanderwoude says, “even though they already have a nostalgic theme, we would dictate their structure.” Disney World does similar things,” he says, mentioning Lake Buena Vista where Disney leases facilities to private businesses.

Mayberry, Vanderwoude says, will be a quantum leap from The Whistle Stop Mall. “Whistle Stop is small and doesn’t attract franchise entities. Mayberry will.”

The development is part of a retailing trend of combining a destination and a retail experience, he says.
“At a mall you do one thing, shop. At Mayberry you’ll end up shopping, yes, but you’ll go to nice restaurants and there will be recreation too.”

This is a contrast to something like Dollywood, a fee-based tourist attraction, Vanderwoude says.

“You pay $30, you’re there for a day, then you leave. The intent is for Mayberry not to be fee-based. It will be a part of the community. People can come for an hour for lunch, or for a whole vacation.”

Among Vanderwoude’s plans for the area are accommodations that he describes as “low-intensity dwellings,” clusters of log cabins or Victorian town houses. “There will be no high rises. We want it to look as if it’s been there a long time.”

He would also like to include a 24-inch gauge railway system, which would allow visitors to park at the Whistle Stop Mall and then be transported by train to Mayberry, alleviating the parking issue that are always problematic on mountain land, he says.

“We won’t have to create humongous, large parking lots.”

Mayberry will be near the greenway that is being established in Franklin.

“I very much support (the greenway), it has excellent potential to attract quality performers,” said Vanderwoude, referring to the civic center and theater that will be built.

An increase in entertainment is something Vanderwoude looks forward to in Franklin’s future. The Franklin that he visualizes in 10 to 20 years is “larger but just as enjoyable to live in, if not more. We’re going to see more facilities and things to do than now. We just have to maintain the quality of life and infrastructure, like roads, to avoid congestion and keep that laidback, hometown feel.”

Vanderwoude is currently waiting on Department of Transportation approval of the highway interchange that will be needed on U.S. 441, so he cannot set a definitive date for when Mayberry’s construction may begin. It is only “a couple of years away,” he said

However, everyone does not see this growth, though planned, in a positive light. Roger Turner of the Western North Carolina Alliance says he has received information from DOT engineer Jay Swain that development around U.S. 441 near the proposed Mayberry will cause traffic problems. In 1964, the average daily traffic count in the area was 4,400 cars. In 1990, average daily traffic was 6,900, and preliminary data says that in 2000 it was 20,000. Turner thinks that an increase in traffic due to a major attraction on this part of U.S. 441 would lead to congestion and would be unsafe.

“I don’t see how they’re going to do this without expanding the road,” Turner said.

Susan Ervin, a member of Friends of the Greenway, also has reservations about the development.
“We are a small town,” she said. “We have a downtown. But if we fabricate something that’s supposed to be reminiscent of a small town, the people it brings in will destroy the real thing. The greenway should be something natural, not a magnet for commercial development.”

Turner is concerned about the greenway in general and compares it to a potential Gatlinburg.
“Go to the Little Tennessee where [they are planning to build] and imagine 5,000 square feet of shopping area, a destination hotel, a civic center and the new Southwestern [Community College] campus. Try to picture the amount of asphalt,” Turner said.

“From Winn Dixie to Dowdle Mountain, I think there’s going to be nothing but sprawl. It’s going to be a sprawl-way, not a greenway,” Turner said.

Vanderwoude agreed that too much growth is not desirable.

“Growth out of control is a cancer. It’s a fine line, like in bodies. They need growth, but they don’t need cancer,” he said

 

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The Smoky Mountain News