DAYS INN CORNELIUS

March 19. By Dave Vieser. It looks like the Days Inn on Holiday Lane in Cornelius will soon be demolished to make way for a new expanded State Employees Credit Union (SECU). No one objected to the plan at the first public hearing March 18 at Town Hall.

Meanwhile, workers at the forlorn hotel say they have been told the property will close down in about two months.

The site is across Holiday Lane—named for the Holiday Inn that used to be there—from the now-closed Acropolis restaurant where a QuikTrip convenience store and gas station was planned, but that project is up in the air.

“Other than making their plans for the new building a bit smaller than the previous 10,000 square-foot size, there have been no changes to the proposed application was first submitted,” said Town Planner Aaron Tucker. He did however say that SECU is also considering taking down their existing building and leaving the site vacant, rather than recycling it for future use.

No motel operators have expressed an interest in the facility, possibly because of its age and condition.

According to Mecklenburg County Tax records, the motel was built in 1986 and has an appraised value of $2.3 million.

SECU is a state chartered credit union headquartered in Raleigh, and regulated under the authority of the Credit Union Division of the NC Department of Commerce. They have 256 offices throughout the state.

The SECU plan will be reviewed by the Planning Board and could come back to the Town Board for final approval as soon as early May.

In other action, the commissioners:

• Conducted an animated discussion with Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden regarding a recent unprecedented speeding blitz on Jetton Road. He explained that his department always had within its purview the right to conduct such operations, “but previous sheriffs chose not to do so.” He did say there would be ample notification to Cornelius officials before any similar future operations in town.
• Accepted a $100,000 Carolina Thread Trail Implementation Grant towards the development of the McDowell Creek Greenway Phase II, located between Magnolia Estates Drive at West Catawba Avenue and Westmoreland Road. Phase II of this greenway is approximately 1.6-miles long.