Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

About 120 people attended the “Listening and Learning” session held at COMtech by the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs and the State of NC Department of Administration on February 3, 2011. There were concerned residents, community leaders, golfers, and public officials all requesting the same thing: Reopen the Riverside Golf Course and preserve the North Carolina Indian Cultural Center.

The state, which owns the property, ordered the golf course closed down after several of the buildings did not meet the state building codes.

“Both these properties over the years have served as valuable resources for the community, but over time the facilities have deteriorated ,” Moses Carey, state Secretary of Administration, said. “When public safety becomes a problem, the state, which owns the property, has to do something.”

The golf course and cultural center are located on 450 acres between U.S. 74 and N.C. 710. Greg Richardson, executive director of the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs, described the history of the golf course and cultural center. The center was part of a plan in the 1970s to bring together all North Carolina Indian tribes.

After Richardson spoke, more than 20 other residents tried to convey how important the golf course and cultural center are to the heritage of their people. The cultural center has been a place where the outdoor drama, Strike at the Wind!, was performed, as well as a place where youth can come and swim or learn to golf.

People in the community are trying to come up with a business plan that will get the buildings back up to code. “But any plan will not have to just bring buildings up to code, it will have to be sustainable,” Carey said. “We don’t want to be back where we are now in five years."

Another hearing will be held in Raleigh in March, 2011 during the annual N.C. Indian Unity Conference.