A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for the restoration of a historic bridge at the Alamance County Park at glencoe.
Whereas, James H. Holt and William E. Holt, sons of textile pioneer Edwin M. Holt, founded Glencoe Mill in 1880 and built the Glencoe Mill Village between 1880 and 1882; and
Whereas, the Glencoe Mill Village in Alamance County is now a rare surviving example of the mill villages that were once prevalent throughout the South in the 19th century; and
Whereas, Glencoe is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is being considered for a National Historic Landmark designation; and
Whereas, the Glencoe Mill closed in 1954, and the houses were all vacated in subsequent decades; and
Whereas, in 1997, Preservation North Carolina, a nonprofit organization, purchased the Glencoe property consisting of approximately 100 acres of land along the Haw River and including the original brick mill complex, 32 houses, the mill office and store building, and two water towers, which are all in a state of extreme disrepair; and
Whereas, the private revitalization of houses in the Glencoe Mill Village has taken place and will serve as a model for preserving an entire mill village as an economic redevelopment project; and
Whereas, the private rehabilitation of the mill complex is pending completion of a Brownsfields Agreement with the State of North Carolina, and
Whereas, Textile Heritage Museum, Inc., has purchased the mill office and store building to fulfill its mission of telling the story of the southern textile industry and preserving the cultural heritage of southern mill villages; and
Whereas, Alamance County and the City of Burlington have made contributions toward the redevelopment of the Glencoe Mill Village by assisting with the provision of water and sewer utilities at the site; and
Whereas, Alamance County has acquired land along the Haw River for the purpose of developing a public park that promotes heritage education, heritage tourism, environmental education, conservation, eco‑tourism, and recreation; and 
Whereas, a 1910s historic truss bridge (Stokes #35) was removed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation from the north side of Hanging Rock State Park in Stokes County and moved to Glencoe where, once restored, it will connect footpaths with an eight‑acre island in the Haw River; and
Whereas, the Alamance County's park at Glencoe will serve as a connector in the Mountains‑to‑the‑Sea Trail as well as an accompaniment to the new Haw River State Park; and
Whereas, Glencoe will serve as an important tourist designation for Alamance County and will have the potential of a $20 million economic impact on the local economy; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Cultural Resources the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2007‑2008 fiscal year to restore the historic truss bridge (Stokes #35) in the park at Glencoe in Alamance County.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.