Old plant, new life - Woodmen host groundbreaking

Planners hope that a place once known for the smell of hams cooking will be known a year from now for the sound of families playing, exercising and enjoying life.

“This plant has provided food, provided jobs, provided educational opportunities for many a person that has gone through (here),” said Dennis Pittman, Smithfield Foods’ director of corporate communications, who was one of many speakers present at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday to kick off about 18 months of demolition of the company’s former West Vernon Avenue facility, followed by construction of a $6.35 million, 60,000 square-foot community center.

“And I think it is so fitting that today we will honor those people, honor the Woodmen, honor the city of Kinston, by turning this into a facility that will be enjoyed by many, many more generations on this same site,” Pittman continued.

Pittman said the plant — which was a Frosty Morn Meats plant until Smithfield purchased it in 1979 — opened in 1948. Smithfield announced two years ago that it was closing the plant, because the company considered it too “cost-prohibitive” to continue to operate the aging plant.

Smithfield opened a second Lenoir County plant in 2006, which remains open.

State Rep. Van Braxton, D-Lenoir, said during the ceremony that he grew up on Pecan Lane, since his father worked at the Caswell Developmental Center, and had fond childhood memories of the Frosty Morn plant.

“I remember those early mornings when we’d get up to go to school and we could smell the sweet smell of hams cooking,” he said.

Braxton continued: “This facility has become an eyesore and so I am so pleased that the Woodmen and the city of Kinston and the county of Lenoir have come together to form a public-private partnership to take down what was once a great facility but now has lived past its prime and put up a beautiful facility.”

Braxton, Pittman and many other dignitaries sat on a stage set up in the parking lot outside the plant, with a massive American flag as a backdrop — the flag was draped from the ladders of two fire trucks provided by the Kinston Department of Public Safety and the Hugo Fire Department.

The sun beat down on the stage, leading some dignitaries to incorporate jokes about the heat into their speeches.

“If you’ve primed as many tobacco fields as I have and if you’ve looped as many sticks of tobacco as I have . . . it’s really not that bad,” state Auditor and Woodmen member Beth Wood said.

Wood was joined onstage by her fellow state official and Woodmen member, N. C. Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin.

“This new facility underscores and epitomizes what Woodmen are all about — before, ever, and always: faith and family, children and youth, community and country,” Goodwin said.

The Woodmen of the World, founded by Joseph Cullen Root on June 6, 1890, in Omaha, Neb., is a life insurance firm and fraternal/community service organization with 750,000 members nationwide.

“Back in 1890, our world was very different, but even then Mr. Root and our . . . leaders always intended for Woodmen of the World to keep its promises to our members and to be a vital presence in our community, and this community center is just an example of the many ways in which we’re living out Mr. Root’s vision,” said Danny Cummins, president and CEO of the Woodmen.

The Woodmen have more than 4,000 members in Kinston and Lenoir County, according to Mark Theisen, executive vice president, fraternal, for the WOW.

“The community center here in Kinston is a model for the future of fraternalism, but at the same time it honors the traditions from where we came, and we at Woodmen of the World are honored to be part of this groundbreaking project,” he said.

Woodmen officials had schematics of the community center on display Friday, and they are currently applying for demolition and construction permits. Theisen said he expects the center to be open by Fall 2011.

The facility will be owned by the WOW and leased to the Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Department, which will operate it.

Recreation Director Bill Ellis has described the Woodmen center as a critical tool for local economic development, serving as a draw to families and businesses looking to re-locate in the Kinston area.

“We at Parks and Rec learned a long time ago, partner with Economic Development and you get a lot more done,” Ellis said Friday.

 David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

BREAKOUT BOX:

Construction timeline for Woodmen Community Center

n May 21: WOW closes on Vernon Ave. Smithfield plant

n May-June: Woodmen apply for state demolition, construction permits

n July: Demolition begins, lasts 60 to 90 days

n Fall 2010: Construction begins

n Fall 2011: Community center opens

BREAKOUT BOX 2:

Funding sources:

n $5 million-Woodmen of the World, Woodmen Foundation

n $500,000-city of Kinston

n $500,000-Lenoir County

n $350,000-Golden LEAF Foundation, Community Assistance Initiative

BREAKOUT BOX 3:

Community center features:

n Elevated walking track

n Fitness center

n Gymnasiums

n Indoor soccer area

n Batting cage

n Woodmen state and local offices

n Conference/banquet rooms