DDM Announces Acquisition of Elks Home and Other Major Projects at Annual Meeting

Middlesboro, Kentucky, February 21, 2013 – Over sixty people filled a packed room in the Alexander Arthur Museum for the Annual Meeting of Discover Downtown Middlesboro last Thursday night.

President Keith Nagle kicked off the festivities by welcoming the standing room only crowd, and acknowledged special guests including Mayor Bill Kelley as well as several members of City Council in attendance. Officials from the Bell County Chamber of Commerce were also present and recognized.

Mayor Bill Kelley accepting an award for the Middlesboro Street Department
from DDM Executive Director Isaac Kremer at the Annual Meeting. Photo credit: Frank Smith.

Three Directors were elected to new three-year terms by the membership. These included Jay Shoffner, Donna Smith, and Penny Smith.

Secretary Carolyn O'Boyle and Treasurer Philip Ball also acknowledged and welcomed guests. It was reported that member contributions to DDM in the previous month have exceeded all of member giving from the previous six years combined. This fact was celebrated by applause from all of those in the audience.

DDM follows the Four-Point Approach® to commercial district revitalization as established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This approach calls for grassroots citizen-led action in the areas of Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.

Organization chair Donna Smith set the tone for the evening asking everyone in the room to think of “one thing they can do to help the downtown.” She then stated her goal to double the number of DDM members in the year to follow.

Other committee chairs made their presentations too including Promotion Chair, Penny Smith; Economic Restructuring Chair, Larry Grandey; and Design Chair, Jay Shoffner.

Architect James K. Piper, Jr. and Mr. Jon Rollins were both recognized. Their firm GRW, Inc. is one of DDM’s newest members, and the two of them traveled all of the way from Lexington to be present for the meeting.

DDM Executive Director Isaac Kremer then addressed the crowd. He too welcomed those in attendance and underscored the importance of the community coming together and how "nights like this matter."

Historical photo of the Elks Home in Middlesboro. Photo credit:  Middlesborough History website.

Kremer began by stating that DDM has acquired the 27,000 square foot Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Home (formerly the old hospital). The building was donated to DDM in December 2012 by lifelong Middlesboro resident Dallas Shackleford. James Madison, Executive Director of the Bell County Historical Society was called forward and presented DDM a check to assist with bringing in a structural engineer to help evaluate the building. This news was greeted with great enthusiasm by the members and guests in attendance.

Kremer reported that DDM expects to be the recipient of a $10,000 grant to assist in the development of a strategic plan for the downtown. A national expert will be brought in to facilitate a weekend workshop in April or May. Dr. Jack McCann, Dean of the Lincoln Memorial University Business School that is a partner in the project spoke briefly about the strong bond between LMU and downtown Middlesboro.

View of the existing Canal Walk with recently installed Tour SEKY sign. Photo Credit: DDM, 2013.

A vision to connect the downtown and the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park via an upgraded and expanded Canal Walk was also shared. This walk has the potential to promote tourism, economic development, and to provide a valuable amenity for residents and visitors alike. When the audience was asked to raise hands if they supported the concept – the show of support was unanimous.

The meeting was closed by sharing a new Mission Statement for DDM that goes as follows:

Discover Downtown Middlesboro, Inc. is a non-profit organization that encourages citizen participation in the revitalization of Cumberland Avenue between 10^th and 24^th Street and several mixed-use walkable blocks to the north and south. We seek to improve the physical appearance of the downtown while maintaining its historic integrity; to retain existing businesses and to attract new ones; and to make downtown Middlesboro the center of the economic, civic, and social life of the Tri-State area.

One final appeal was made for those who are not members already to join. Everyone in attendance was also encouraged to serve on at least one committee. A membership form as well as a volunteer sign-up form are both available on the new Discover Downtown Middlesboro website at:  http://www.downtownmiddlesboro.org. 

President Keith Nagle adjourned the meeting around 7:45pm. Several of those in attendance opted to stay for well over an hour afterwards to enjoy good company, tasty food, and most importantly great conversation about the future of downtown Middlesboro.

Contact:

Isaac D. Kremer, Executive Director

Discover Downtown Middlesboro, Inc.

(606) 248-6155

downtownmiddlesboro@gmail.com

www.downtownmiddlesboro.org

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DDM Annual Meeting this Thursday, 2/21 at 7pm

When:Thursday, February 21 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Where:Alexander Arthur Museum, 2215 Cumberland Avenue, Middlesboro, KY 40965

Join Discover Downtown Middlesboro for our Annual Meeting. We will announce our new mission statement and vision for the downtown. We will also publicly announce several large-scale projects that will have a transformative impact on the downtown in the years to follow. The meeting is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

We also welcome all past and present members of DDM to complete a quick online survey. Responses will help us as we work to further improve our programs and services. Thank you for your feedback in advance.

2013 DDM Member Survey

www.surveymonkey.com

For more information or to become a member, please visit: http://downtownmiddlesboro.org/.

White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Bats at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a condition deadly to bats, has now been confirmed at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (NHP) according to Park Superintendent Mark Woods.  Woods details that laboratory histopathology tests on three bats, from three of the park’s more than 30 caves, tested positive for the disease; two of these bats also showed visible signs of WNS.    

White-nose syndrome is known to be transmitted primarily from bat to bat, but spores of Geomyces destructans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, may be inadvertently carried between caves by humans on clothing, footwear, and caving gear.  White-nose syndrome is not known to affect people, pets, or livestock but is harmful or lethal to hibernating bats, killing 90 percent or more of some species of bats in caves where the fungus has lasted for a year or longer, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

White-nose syndrome was first detected in New York State in 2006 and has killed more than 5.5 million cave-dwelling bats in the eastern third of North America as it has spread south and west.  The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome has been confirmed in 21 states; white-nose syndrome has been confirmed in 19 states.  It has also been confirmed in four Canadian provinces.  A map of the current spread of white-nose syndrome can be found at http://whitenosesyndrome.org/resources/map.

Decontamination procedures to prevent spread of the fungal spores by human beings were adopted more than three years ago as white-nose syndrome was decimating bat populations in the northeast.  Cumberland Gap NHP implemented such procedures years ahead of any actual finding of white-nose syndrome in the park in an effort to delay its arrival and to be fully prepared should it appear.  Visitors on Gap Cave tours were being interviewed before cave tours to see if they had items that had been in other caves or mines since 2006.  If so, they were asked to leave those items out of the cave or if needed, their footwear was decontaminated before tours.  Researchers working in park caves followed current national guidance for decontamination before and after their visits.  Woods explains that “Ranger led tours of the park’s Gap Cave, attended annually by almost 5000 visitors, will continue.”    

Park staff has been working closely with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in cooperation with other federal and Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee state agencies (while the park is located in these three states, most of the caves are located within the Virginia section of the park), universities, and other non-government organizations which have been monitoring the spread of the WNS fungus since first discovered in Bath County, Virginia in February 2009.  Because the fungus grows at temperatures below 70^oF, the hibernation season (November through March) is the best time of year to detect the growth on bats.  This limits the survey areas to the mountainous regions of the state where bats hibernate in caves and mines.  The Lower Powell Valley drainage was the last area in the state where WNS had not been detected.  With the discovery of WNS at Cumberland Gap NHP, the disease has now been observed in all the major mountain drainages of the state.  Virginia’s focus is now on determining the impacts of WNS on the different cave bat species and determining if individuals can persist over time in the face of infection.

Six species of cave-dwelling bats, including the endangered Indiana bat, are found at Cumberland Gap NHP.  All six species are at risk from WNS.  Three species of tree-dwelling bats are also found in the park.  Some bats spend both the summer and winter at Cumberland Gap.  However, other bats are much more mobile, wintering at the park but spending the summer in other areas or vice-versa.  Bats play a crucial role in the environment.  Bats are the only major predator of night-flying insects.  A single big brown bat can eat between 3,000 and 7,000 mosquitos in a night, with large populations of bats consuming thousands of tons of potentially harmful forest and agricultural pests annually.

"The mission of the National Park Service,” spells out Woods “is to preserve natural treasures and to provide a way for people to enjoy them.  Our response to challenges such as white-nose syndrome applies the best available science and research to find the proper balance between those roles, and a sustainable future for our parks."

An eastern pipistrelle bat found at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park shows visible signs of white-nose syndrome. 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 395 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.