Greetings from Montreat! I have several updates for you as March comes to a close, including the latest in our hurricane recovery efforts, a brief review of our just completed board meeting, and a report on the recent demolition of Galax, Chestnut Lodge, and Lord Apartments.
Repair and Restoration
Lake Susan is a lake again. Flat Creek began filling the restored basin on Friday, March 7, following the completion of repairs to the stone wall below the Belk Center at Left Bank. As the lake level rose slowly, crews used the temporary shutdown of Flat Creek to restore rock to the base of the dam, an important erosion control measure for the health of both dam and creek. Meanwhile, a team of disaster relief landscape specialists regraded vehicular and pedestrian access, restored parking areas, installed sod and gravel pathways, and built a series of retaining walls along Assembly Drive that now extend to the northeastern end of the parking area beyond the Currie Craft Center. Added to the now crystal-clear water, the whole scene suddenly looks as beautiful as it has in my lifetime.
I can brag like that without shame because I had nothing to do with it. Instead, thanks are due to many, including the following:
- Elected representatives – Senators Warren Daniel and Julie Mayfield and Representative Eric Ager – worked to secure state funding for the original project.
- Blue Earth Engineering developed much of the site plan and analysis.
- The Town of Montreat’s diligent staff, which continues to perform in extraordinary ways, guided us in securing the necessary permits and permissions. (Town staff have also been hard at work to get Welch Field ready for summer.)
- Our contractor, Chonzie, Inc., completed the excavation on schedule and then brought in Fernando’s Stoneworks to restore the lake wall that had been damaged during Chonzie’s big dig. Chonzie’s commitment to seeing the project through to completion – and to getting it right – was impressive.
- Dave Jacobus of HLC Site Services, moved by his daughter’s experience of Montreat Youth Conferences, brought a team from Charlotte to install the aforementioned walls, landscaping, etc. Dave gave us generous terms on labor and materials, personally donated time, money, and expertise, and recruited a volunteer team from South Mecklenburg Presbyterian to turn the lakeside green and beautiful. (Dave’s group is still here as of this writing, finishing other projects around town, including a new foot bridge connecting Anderson and Montreat College parking lots.)
- MRA staff members Seth Hagler, Richard Sills, and John Quinzi each had a hand in leading, directing, and approving the work above, and other staff were removing debris from the lake in the earliest days following the hurricane.
There are improvements to come – more planting, more fish, some docks – but the project has already involved the contributions of hundreds. And elsewhere, work continues around campus. Each week our color-coded progress report turns a little greener (“project completed”), a little less yellow (“project in progress”), a little less red (“project not started”). While sometimes I barely notice the incremental changes, the chart was once entirely yellow and red. We’re getting there.
What we will never adequately complete is our expression of gratitude for the gifts and prayers that are making this possible, for the overwhelming generosity – in time, talent, and treasure – of those who provide the foundation of these efforts. The example set by South Mecklenburg Presbyterian, noted above, was extraordinary, and just the latest testament to the strength of the larger church, to its deep commitment to this sacred place, and to the power of God, working through all to ensure that Montreat remains a place of renewal, hope, and community for generations to come. We give thanks to God for each and every one of you.
Board Meeting Update
The board held its spring meeting on our campus last week. Among the items of business, the board approved a new five-year strategic plan. The plan focuses on five key areas for improvement: program, financial stability, improving our campus, communications, and staff. Staff committees have already set to work on tactics that address the objectives in each of these areas and, after more than a year of preparation, we are eager to put the plan into its first year of implementation, recognizing that we’ll have to adapt and revise as we go.
The board also adopted a budget for the upcoming 25-26 fiscal year. Budgeting at the conference center always means accounting for projections both positive and challenging, and this year that was particularly true. The budget balances, of course, and includes needed support for staff and investments in key areas that will support the first year of our strategic plan.
That said, presenting a balanced budget was more difficult this year than it has been, something that our planning process acknowledges and must address. Looking back over ten years, Montreat Conference Center has enjoyed a period of relatively stable financial growth (COVID-19 and Helene notwithstanding), thanks to good programming, philanthropy, penny-pinching and, perhaps especially, the renovation of Assembly Inn. One primary effort to sustain that record – building a new lodge – remains bottled up in court. This year’s budget process was a reminder that the cost of delay has neither been theoretical nor simply a matter of legal bills.
Finally, the board heard a report on the demolition of Galax, Chestnut, and Lord Apartments. Demolition of the lodges was completed over the past two weeks per the board’s direction from our November meeting, citing safety concerns as a motive to take them down before the summer season. The board’s executive committee affirmed that conclusion in January and staff settled on late February as go date.
Those interested can find a more detailed summary of the board meeting here.
I’ll leave you with a thought that I’ve shared in thank you notes over the past few days. This has been a challenging season in Montreat, but it has also been a season of learning. I’ve learned all over again just how deeply a love for Montreat flows through so many of you, including those who make up what turns out to be a very strong Presbyterian church. Many of the “new donors” to Montreat that we have reported are actually not new donors at all, but people whose congregations have supported our ministry for years…churches in the Southeast, the Northeast, the Midwest, Southwest, and Pacific Coast.
Among the larger gifts was an offering from our Presbyterian siblings in Taiwan. Every other year or so, for the last decade, we have hosted a group of Taiwanese Presbyterian pastors here for a retreat. As valuable as the financial support we received, this gift symbolized their ties to us and, perhaps indirectly, a recognition of mission coworker John McCall’s commitment to sustaining those ties. I recently learned that, with Presbyterian World Mission’s recent reduction of force, John will be ending his service in Taiwan. This was news worth grieving, yet John’s recent note to me included the reminder that God has been faithful to our church in the past and will be faithful going forward. Amid our cautious concerns and challenges in Montreat, there is ample evidence of that assurance blooming this spring. If you get a chance, come see it.
Bless you all, and more to come!
Richard DuBose
President, Montreat Conference Center