Tribal Construction

Downtown

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:29:01 +0000

Downtown revitalization is complete.

Stickball / Soccer Field

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:25:45 +0000

The final touches to the stickball-soccer field have been made. The play area has been in use for several months. During the summer and fall of 2008 final construction activities like installing the scoreboard, fencing and landscaping have been completed. Approximately 200 soccer players (potentially more) have been using the field for soccer tournaments, practice, and normal competition. The field is open for use by the stickball players. Construction of this project would not have been possible without assistance from Tribal Construction (Johnny and Glen Bradley), Cherokee Department of Transportation (Barak Myers and Kenny Panther), Facilities Management, and Community Recreation (Chumper Walker). Contractors that assisted were Grounds of Perfections of Sylva, Petra Masonry of Bryson City, D&C Landscaping and Trackhoe Services, Proctor Hodge Architectural. Funding for the project was provided in part by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Theatre

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:23:03 +0000

The theatre seats approximately 200 people in front of each theater screen. The facility is a building that hosts two screens with stadium seating and an advanced sound system. The entrance features refreshments and restrooms in the bottom level. Upper levels features video games and projection rooms.

Women’s Wellness

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:19:41 +0000

Officially the Women’s Wellness Center is open and doing business with the public through its various health and community services that it provides. The project is coming to a close with some outside work to the facility. During construction, it was necessary to take up part of Kiser Wilnoty Road, which is the service road that connects Drama Hill Road and John Crowe Hill Road. Cherokee Department of Transportation (CDOT) is repairing the road bed and reconstructing the road with new asphalt. The next step in the project will be to improve parking and road conditions in front of the Cherokee Transit Offices. CDOT will enhance the parking lot by removing old asphalt, parking lot islands, and lamp posts, which are no longer used. This will increase the number of parking spaces and create a more effective thoroughfare for parking and traversing the lot. This work should be complete by the end of the summer.

Raw Water In-Take

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:17:40 +0000

This project was completed this past spring (2009). In the falloff 2006 a serious gas leak from a convenience service station threatened the Tribe’s drinking water. A leak was discovered above the in-take area at the Tribal Water Treatment Plant. Some traces of gasoline were discovered in the water system. Temporary structures were created to protect the water in-take system. In order to guarantee the Tribe would have clean drinking water, a sub-aqueous pipe system was constructed to a point 400 feet up stream from the leak/spill area. The system has an automated air-burst system that cleans the underwater in-take heads from dirt and debris. The system was completed in October 2008 and has been functioning through the winter. A guard structure to protect the in-take heads had to be installed this past spring to avoid the federally mandated trout moratorium. Carolina Specialties Construction of Hendersonville constructed the system in a timely fashion for the Tribe. Brown Consulting of Asheville was the designing and inspecting engineering firm. Emergency funding was received from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Cherokee County Senior Center

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:16:58 +0000

The Cherokee County Senior Center is now completed and operating in the unincorporated community of Marble in Cherokee County. This community is about 60 miles west of the Cherokee headquarters and is on fee simple property that is owned by the Tribe. The center has been built to serve the Cherokee County senior citizens. It has the capacity to serve approximately 75 senior citizens daily. The building has a full commercial kitchen and large activities area. The building operates 7:45 AM until 4:30 PM (eastern) Monday through Friday. There are exceptions for special activities. The staff has a head cook and activities supervisor. The building is managed by the Tsali Manor staff headquartered in Cherokee. The building is 3500 square feet has been outfitted with a drip irrigation sewer system. Because of unsuitable soils and no access to sanitary sewer systems in Cherokee County, the elaborate sewer system was installed and has a contracted operator. The building is inspected under North Carolina-Cherokee County building and health inspections since the property is not in Trust with other Cherokee property. Vinson Simms Construction built the steel metal structure. Assistance in design for the building was provided by Proctor Hodge Architectural of Cherokee. Assistance with sewer design and installation was provided by the Tribal Department of Engineering Survey and Design and Tribal Construction. Funding was provided by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Our office will continue with this project through the summer to help the community build a picnic area with remaining funds left over from this project.

Kituwah Immersion Language Academy

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:16:20 +0000

The Tribe has finished renovating the former Boundary Tree Lodge. Since 1948 the Lodge had served as an icon to visitors as a place to stay and receive hospitality from the Cherokee. Now it will serve as a new icon of learning and cultural renaissance. It will serve as a school for infants to kindergarten. The eventual hope is that the school will house infants to fifth grade. The school is in partnership with the Cherokee Central School System as it will teach math, science, history, and language arts. The language arts will be the Cherokee Language (Kituwah). As the name indicates it is an immersion language academy.

Since the fall of 2008 Perry Bartsch, Junior Construction of Asheville has been working to renovate and complete new construction to the facility. In years prior to the construction beginning Padgett and Freeman Architects have been working on design and engineering in cooperation with Reece, Nolan McElrath, PE of Asheville. The project is almost complete with some final work that needs to be completed prior to opening. Funding for this project has been provided by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Diabetes Clinic

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:15:20 +0000

There is a rising number of diabetics each year if not by the month on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. In the late 1990’s research indicated that one out of every three people over the age of 40 had diabetes in the Eastern Band of Cherokee. That rate is increasing according to the Tribe’s Department of Health and Medical Delivery. During June 2009 renovations to the existing Diabetes Clinic and the Cherokee Life Center started. The renovations included adding more exam rooms and expanding most other areas ranging from medical records rooms and reception to charting and screening areas. In the renovation the Cherokee Life Center also realize some changes to its facility. This made some enhancement so that more people are able to exercise.

Dora Reed Center

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:11:30 +0000

We have completed the kitchen and it is now functional for the center.

Big Y

shannon — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:09:03 +0000

The Big Y Community Building is complete. With some minor construction to the building it is ready to inhabit by the sub-division of Wolftown. The facility houses a new gymnasium and community meeting facilities along with kitchen area.