Stan Suther's Real Estate and Stuff

Last night, I went to a meeting of the Citizens for a Troutman Library.  A group of us have been meeting every month for several years working toward raising funds to build a local library.  I’m pleased to say that we can anticipate breaking ground in the very near future.  The group has raised around $700,000, most of it from local citizens.  We’ll continue to raise funds and plan another book sale for April and will be selling bricks that you can buy and have a name laser printed into it to be placed at the site.  More to come on that.

The deal that was struck between the citizens and local government is that if the citizens raise the funds to build it, the town of Troutman will donate the land and oversee construction, then Iredell County will stock it, staff it, and run it.  The library will be near the town center at the corner of Brown and Church Streets.

Earlier last year we had some concerns for the cost of construction going up to the point where we’d have to wait longer or cut corners.  Now, the economic downturn has provided a silver lining.  According to the town manager who is overseeing the construction of the building, construction costs are coming down, and general contractors are lining up to bid on the construction of the building.  No doubt their bids will be very competitive since construction activity is so depressed.

We’ll be announcing a ground breaking ceremony in the news and to donors within the next few days.  A link to a virtual tour posted by the Statesville Record and Landmark is HERE.  A floor plan is HERE, and a site plan is HERE.

This all has a particularly unique connection to my family, the Suthers.  Back in the 1930′s my grandfather operated Suther & Lytton Barber Shop along with Mr. Lytton.  In those days, entertainment was hard to come by, and average people in town couldn’t get their hands on books as easily as we do today.  So, my grandfather and his partner started a lending library in their barber shop.  Because it was not supported by tax dollars, they rented the books for 10 cents per week to fund book purchases.  I still have some of their books along with the checkout list and library imprint inside the books.  I don’t know how long that went on, but as far as I know, that is the only time that Troutman has had its own library.

I think my grandfather would be pleased that we’re bringing it back.