This weekend is the unofficial start of summer, and just in time for the Memorial Day holiday, Lake Lure is reopening. It had been closed since Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina almost two years ago. The Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter looked at what the reopening means for the area, which is heavily dependent on tourism. The Ledger’s Tony Mecia joins me now for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: Remind us what Helene did to Lake Lure that’s caused it to be closed for about 20 months?
Tony Mecia: Lake Lure, which is about 90 miles west of Charlotte, was hit harder than a lot of communities because, really, the lake is the center of the community. When Helene came through in 2024, it dumped all kinds of sediment. There are photos of boats stacked up on each other in the harbor. People there weren't able to use the lake. As the name suggests, I'd never really thought about this, but the lake is the lure. The number of visitors fell 75% or so. The town's revenue fell 50%.
Terry: Just how important is tourism for this area, and what are you hearing from businesses there after almost two years of devastation and rebuilding?
Mecia: Lindsey Banks from our team at The Charlotte Ledger talked to the mayor of Lake Lure. She said all the businesses are open, but they really need the people coming back. Memorial Day is the start traditionally of the big tourist season in the mountains. You couldn't use the lake, you couldn't go boating, you couldn't go kayaking. Now some of that is reopening. The lake is really the centerpiece of recreation out there. It's a beautiful spot. People in the town are just really looking forward to having the tourists back.
Terry: Back to Charlotte now and the city’s appearance in the current season of Top Chef. It actually costs a hefty fee to have the show filmed in the city. Just how hefty, and is that typical?
Mecia: The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said that it spent $1.2 million in a fee payable to Top Chef so that Top Chef would highlight Charlotte and use images of Charlotte and project that image to people who are watching the show. These sort of arrangements do seem to be becoming more common. When these television shows come, not only do they want incentives for the production and the jobs, but in many cases, they want a little bit of a fee in order to showcase the place that they are highlighting. You might remember that the Michelin Guide last year sort of did the same thing. They took money from some of these tourism groups in order to come in and rate the restaurant. Some media come and say, well, we can highlight your area, but it's going to cost you.
Terry: Over to east Charlotte now, where a “wall-breaking” ceremony was held recently. I think everyone knows what a groundbreaking is. What is a “wall-breaking?”
Mecia: This is a little bit different. Spark Centro, which is an economic development hub on East W.T. Harris Boulevard, celebrated a wall-breaking. The idea is basically they're not building it from the ground up. It's an adaptive reuse.
They're taking an existing building. So rather than breaking ground on a new building. They're literally breaking down walls within the building to rearrange the space, and then they're also figuratively breaking down walls that are maybe barriers to entrepreneurship and success in small business. It's a hub that's designed to help with workforce development and entrepreneurship, support small businesses, that kind of thing.
Terry: Finally, move over, Hugo, Sir Purr, and Sir Minty. There’s a new sports mascot in Charlotte. Who is it?
Mecia: Yes, watch out for Sassy the Sasquatch, Carolina Ascent's new mascot. Carolina Ascent is the women's professional soccer team. They're in the playoffs.
They rolled out a new mascot last weekend, I guess hoping to propel the team to success in the playoffs. It is a purple and blue mascot and we'll see if Sassy can lead Carolina Ascent to success on the soccer field.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson & Associates and Central Piedmont Community College.
