PITTSBORO — The Pittsboro Town Board of Commissioners affirmed support Monday for a new welcome center to be established by the Main Street Pittsboro organization.
A last-minute agenda item — the resolution in favor of creating the welcome center at 37 Hillsboro St., the former home to Capital Bank — passed unanimously on Monday. Main Street Pittsboro, an organization created through the N.C. Dept. of Commerce, is seeking a lease on the building, and the town pledged to support the project both financially and ceremonially.
The organization’s goal is to create a Pittsboro/Chatham County Welcome Center in the county seat, collaborating with organizations like the Chatham Chamber of Commerce, Pittsboro Business Association and Pittsboro-Siler City Convention and Visitors Bureau. The group is seeking both public and private funding for the initiative.
The Pittsboro board also decided Monday to allocate some ABC Board funds to the project. Hugh Harrington, chairman of the town’s ABC Board, said Pittsboro had allowed the board to retain some of the profits from its alcohol sales at its Sanford Road location to use as working capital for investments and improvements. The ABC Board would keep 60 percent, while the town would keep 40 percent, specifically for the Pittsboro Police Department.
Commissioner Michael Fiocco recommended the town change the allocation to 55-45, potentially giving the town approximately $8,000 more to work with, and reappropriate the funds to renovate the site of the proposed Welcome Center. The board unanimously approved the change.
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.