The city of Charles Town voted to approve a contract this week that will eventually give residents and tourists permanent access to the historic Happy Retreat property. The property, significant for its historic roots, was built by Charles Washington, the founder of Charles Town in 1780.
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — The city of Charles Town voted this week to finalize a contract with the Friends of Happy Retreat -a move that will eventually give residents and tourists permanent access to the Happy Retreat property.
City officials voted on the contract, as well as to transfer funds to Charles Town’s parks and recreation department in order to make an initial deposit on the upcoming transaction during this week’s city council meeting.
Charles Town Mayor Peggy Smith was one of several city officials excited about welcoming the property into public access.
“This is something we have been working on for years,” Smith said. “It’s going to tie directly into our revitalization projects on the West End.”
With both the city and Friends of Happy Retreat aligned together, the historic property will soon be open to the public on an ongoing basis – a historic feat in itself, according to Walter Washington, president of Friends of Happy Retreat.
The property, significant for its historic roots to the city, was built in 1780 by Charles Washington, the founder of Charles Town and brother of George Washington.
In the past, the property was only open to the public at specified times, but was under private ownership. The contract will give residents and tourists public access to host events such as small weddings, tours and other historical plans the organization has in the works, Washington said.
The current property sits on a total of 12.2 acres.
Under the proposed contract, the city will purchase 10 acres at $35,000 per acre for a purchase price of $350,000 by the city. The Friends of Happy Retreat will purchase the remaining 2.2 acres, including the home for $425,000, bringing the total of $775,000 in the Happy Retreat contract.
The transaction is set to go to closing in June 2015.
In addition to expanding tourism efforts around the city, council member Rich Bringewatt said the decision to approve the contract will hopefully lead to economic improvements along the West End.
“Given the price of land, given the relationship between the city and Happy Retreat – you can’t get better timing,” Bringewatt said. “If we do this on the west side, other kinds of developments – private sector-related – is going to quickly follow. It will produce other revenue for the city, and once we follow this kind of recreational opportunity as an important historic identity, that will also fuel economic development for the city in general. So I see this as a bargaining short-term investment for a significant long-term benefit to the city, and it’s just hard not to do right now.”
While the majority of city officials supported the contract, council member Chet Hines voted against the decision. Hines raised concerns about the account used to fund the project, and said no permanent plans have been laid out for the Happy Retreat project.
“The only problem I have with this is that we are using a municipal stabilization account and this account can be used to fund unexpected or emergency expenditures. I don’t see emergency on this, and I don’t see it being unexpected, so I have a little reservation about that,” Hines said. “Also, I haven’t see any kind of pulse about what we’re going to make with this park land. … So I won’t vote for this. I need something with more depth. It’s taxpayer money and I won’t spend it.”
Smith said most of the council looked at the purchase from the perspective as part of the West End Revitalization project and felt it should be funded further through the use of grant money.
“Hopefully there will be some grants there. We’ve already gotten $1 million from the EPA,” Smith said.
Now that the city has voted to approve the contract, the Friends of Happy Retreat will have until June to come up with their portion of the funds.
Washington said he was excited about bringing the historic property into the public domain permanently and had no doubts that the organization would be able to raise the $425,000 by next summer.
“We’ll come up with the funds,” Washington said. “We have a fundraising campaign that will be well under way soon.”
