Please help us bring back the to

Please help us bring back the tourist economy for Lake Lure and Chimney Rock

As everyone knows, The Town of Lake Lure and the Village of Chimney Rock were hit hard by Hurricane Helene. In order to remove sediment from Hurricane Helene’s flood and make necessary repairs and/or replacement of the town’s sewer system, the lake may remain lowered for more than a year, maybe two. The bridge to Chimney Rock State Park was washed away. The economic impact of losing our two most important tourist draws is immense. Replacing the bridge to Chimney Rock State Park will take a year and a half to two years. The State Park owns a two-lane paved road behind the Lake Lure Inn. The distance from this road to the entrance road to Chimney Rock Park is less than a quarter mile. This road extension could be built in less than six months. This road extension is already on the park’s master plan because it has always been evident that only one means of ingress and egress is a huge safety issue. Because of the need for more than one way to get to the park, we are not asking for this extension to be done instead of a new bridge. We need both. Our town and local businesspeople are urgently asking for the road extension to be built as soon as possible so the park can reopen. It seems like the decision makers in Raleigh don’t see the urgency in building the road extension. We need your help to persuade NC State Parks, NC Department of Transportation, Rutherford County Tourist Development Authority and philanthropic organizations to join together and build the extension of the road. It would be a huge help in rebuilding our local economy and an equally huge boost for our local morale.

Please contact the officials listed below and include the above information.

Thank you

Contact information for elected and appointed officials

Governor Josh Stein:

https://governor.nc.gov/contact/contact-governor-stein

Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt:

Contact: Zachary.Godwin@nc.gov

Mailing Address: 20401 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-0401

NC Secretary of State Elaine Marshal

Post Office Box 29622

Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0622

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Secretary Pamela Brewington Cashwell