Mooresville Boasts Natural Beauty, Progressive Atmosphere
Mooresville is a town with a split personality. On one hand‚ the community prides itself on small-town charm. Old-timers still gather at D.E. Turner Hardware each morning to discuss the topic of the day. On Saturday mornings at Pat’s Gourmet Coffee Shop‚ local musicians enjoy open jam sessions. And on Tuesday evenings during the summer‚ residents set up lawn chairs behind the War Memorial Building for the free Music in the Park concert series.
On the other hand‚ Mooresville is zooming into the 21st century. The town is attracting visitors with a bustling auto-racing industry‚ drawing newcomers with quality schools and modern health care‚ and getting the attention of large businesses with a progressive approach to growth.
“We don’t have anything on the back burner‚” says Al Jones‚ Mooresville’s second-term mayor. “Everything here is on the front burner.”
Indeed‚ Mooresville has made some dramatic strides during the past decade‚ transforming itself from a struggling mill town into a thriving community of almost 20‚000 people. Once just another refueling stop for motorists along I-77‚ Mooresville is now a serious destination for throngs of people each year.
Many folks visit the numerous NASCAR racing team shops that have sprung up around “Race City USA.” Others take advantage of the area’s abundant natural resources‚ including Lake Norman and its 520 miles of shoreline‚ as well as the city’s nine parks and two golf courses.
Cardinal FG‚ a manufacturer of float glass‚ recognized the area’s potential and decided to build an $85 million plant in the Mooresville Business Park.
“We targeted this general area because of the furniture market and the mirror manufacturers nearby‚” says Jim Stevens‚ Cardinal FG plant manager. “We were looking for a site where we thought people would want to live. Mooresville fit that bill with the lake and the nice community.”
Although Stevens has lived in nine other states‚ he feels right at home in Mooresville.
“The neighborhoods around here are very good. It’s a good mix of people from all over‚” he says.
The Mooresville Graded School District‚ with six schools and 4‚200 students‚ also has an excellent reputation.
“Some people move into our town just so their children can go to school here‚” says Boen Nutting‚ the school district’s public information coordinator. “We are able to know children on an individual basis.”
To spur economic growth‚ the South Iredell Community Development Corp. developed two business parks. The South Iredell Industrial Park opened in the early 1980s on 250 acres and quickly filled up with 12 companies‚ including three racing teams. The 500-acre Mooresville Business Park‚ home to Cardinal FG and five other manufacturing firms‚ opened in 1989.
Joe Knox became mayor of Mooresville in 1969‚ when the town had about 7‚000 residents. Back then the area depended mostly on Burlington Mills and its 2‚200-person workforce. When the mill began downsizing two decades ago‚ Mooresville’s future looked bleak.
“Had we not made plans‚ we would have started putting plywood over things‚” Knox says. “I could see us having a ghost town.”
Instead‚ city and county visionaries formed the South Iredell Economic Development Board‚ made up of local bankers and other investors. A state grant helped build a wastewater treatment plant near the I-77 and Highway 150 interchange. The first industrial park soon followed and‚ as Knox puts it‚ “everything started to take off.”Knox‚ now 78‚ retired in 1999 after 15 terms and 30 years as mayor of Mooresville‚ but he still maintains an office downtown to keep his finger on the pulse of things.
“I’m proud of this town‚” he says‚ “and I don’t mind bragging about it.”
