SHELBY -- It's been a project nearly a decade in the making.
Destination Cleveland County, the organization that started the Don Gibson Theatre, has been researching, fundraising and working to make the historic former Cleveland County courthouse a major tourist destination with the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center.
The center, which has seen numerous opening dates announced in recent years, plans to be an interactive museum on the region named for native county music legend Earl Scruggs.
Now, according to DCC officials, standard Scruggs Center hours will begin Jan. 2, 2014, and doors are still expected to open before the end of this year.
“It’s going to be pretty much the end of the month,” said Emily Epley, DCC executive director. “We did have some things in the schedule that shifted. But it’ll be open by the end of the year and then certainly starting Jan. 2 will be our standard operating hours Wednesday through Sunday.”
Brownie Plaster, DCC chairwoman, said the center’s “soft opening” would be quiet, but that it would be open by the end of the year.
“Things are going fast and furiously in there. There are so many layers and components that it takes,” she said.
A grand opening celebration is set for Jan. 11, 2014, and will include not only performances by guests such as Vince Gill and Travis Tritt later that evening, but also a variety activities throughout the day on the court square and uptown, beginning about 11 a.m., Plaster said.
“They’re working on all sorts of activities around the square,” she said.
Banjos, pickin' and 'Beverly Hillbillies'
Those activities include showings at the Don Gibson Theatre of episodes of the “Beverly Hillbillies” and the movie, “Bonnie and Clyde," both of which featured Scruggs' banjo work. There will also be an “Eat with Earl” campaign in which uptown restaurants will offer special foods that Earl Scruggs enjoyed.
"There will be a banjo petting zoo," said Epley. "We’re going to have banjos that are out and accessible for kids and grown-ups to familiarize themselves with. They’re not really teaching the banjo, but they’re going to introduce people to it."
Live music will also be played Jan. 11 around 12:30 p.m., before the dedication and ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. And around uptown, there will be areas designated as “picking spots” for banjo players. The night will culminate in the concert at Shelby High School at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for that concert have sold out, officials said.
Future exhibits
Once it’s open, the Scruggs Center will be ready to present its first exhibits, two of which are already planned for 2014.
“Our first-year temporary exhibits are planned,” said Epley. “The committee is beginning meetings to discuss the second-year exhibits.”
Reach reporter Molly Phipps at 704-669-3339, email atmphipps@shelbystar.com and follow on Twitter
@MollyAPhipps.
Scruggs Center timeline
Here are some of the key points in the development of the Scruggs Center.
2006 – Destination Cleveland County begins as a citizen task force to work on two economic development projects, the Don Gibson Theatre (which opened in November 2009) and the soon-to-open Earl Scruggs Center
2008 – Local capital campaign launched, which has to date raised more than $8 million; master plan completed for Earl Scruggs Center
2009 – Earl Scruggs, family members and friends filmed for use in Scruggs Center
2010 – Exhibit designs for center completed
2011 – Bidding and renovations began on Scruggs Center
2012 – Exhibit fabrication for Scruggs Center underway
2013 – Reviews of films, scripts, text panels and other exhibits; final fabrication of exhibit cases and interactive media components
September 2013 – First acts announced for grand opening celebration for Scruggs Center
December 2013 – Opening of Scruggs Center planned
Jan. 11, 2014 – Grand opening celebration for Scruggs Center