Dollywood wrapping up improvement projects ahead of 40th season
Dollywood will be celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. While they do plan to grow and change, Dollywood Company President Eugene Naughton said they also hope to hold onto their traditions.
Engine 107 departs Dollywood, exchanged for Hurricane Helene relief
'Probably just like you think about in your in your own home, right? There's a room that needs to get painted, there's a room that sort of needs a refresh, might need a new piece of furniture. It's same thing for us,' he said.
Naughton said as Dollywood gears up for their 40th season starting next month, they have over 100 projects underway. Some of the largest being a 750-space parking lot, a new restaurant, and a refresh of the Country Fair.
'So we held on to the things that were already great and we just expanded on that,' said the Vice President of Guest Experience Cyndi McCormack.
Smaller projects are also underway, like a new 'Dollywood' sign reminiscent of the one in Hollywood, a permanent Imagination Playhouse. They are also adding more entertainment including 'Play On,' a 40th anniversary show featuring songs and scenes from previous plays.
'This is our new production that will be able to showcase our most beloved shows, characters and experiences and we're really planning on packing as much as we can into a 35-minute show,' said Entertainment Director Paige Bales.
While the park continues to expand, one employee who has worked here since it become Dollywood said the traditions stay the same.
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'We've still kept the same feel that's coming in and learned in friendship and making friendship. The only thing that the growth has done as far as coworkers is just increase the opportunity and the number of people, the number of friendship,' said David Stinnet, who works for Dollywood Security.
Naughton said it is the employees like him who continue this culture.
'The care and the heart that they put in to all of the different things that happen. Whether you're a member of our landscaping team or you're a painter or you're on rides maintenance or you're running in culinary or retail. We're a small city here on our campus, every one of them care about doing it right, because it's the right thing to do,' he said.
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While it may seem like they have a lot going on right now, Naughton assures nearly all of the projects they are working on will be completed come opening day. The park will open to the general public March 15.
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America's Best Small Towns of 2025
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Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished
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7 days ago
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Iconic North Carolina tourist attraction damaged by Helene will be demolished
Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene's devastating pathway through western North Carolina, a vibrant tourist attraction offering visitors a serene escape in the Blue Ridge Mountains is being torn down. Like many other beloved sites in the region, the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Rutherford County crumpled from the relentless floods and winds from remnants of Helene last September. Now, the town of Lake Lure said Thursday that it will start its demolition of the historic structure later this month. While the three-arched bridge dates back to 1925, it didn't become the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge until almost a century later. Once the bridge was decommissioned, a group of local volunteers, Friends of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, worked to enhance it by adding its iconic gardens in 2013, according to the group's website. The bridge attracted more than 150,000 visitors annually, said Linda Reandeau, a master gardener and the group's marketing chair. But then Helene brought destruction to western North Carolina last year, with the Lake Lure area — which served as a backdrop for a few scenes in 'Dirty Dancing' — sustaining some of the worst damage. The town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village, as well as the lake itself, were covered in a layer of disfigured debris. The area still hasn't recovered, but tourist attractions such as Chimney Rock State Park have reopened. In the Flowering Bridge's case, one end of the structure completely collapsed. Several other points also buckled from the damage, and its lush greenery was swept away in the storm. Over the past 11 months, the bridge has only continued to deteriorate, Reandeau said. 'It would have been 100 years old this year,' she said. 'To see it destroyed as it was in the storm was very emotional and heartbreaking for me, along with all the other volunteers and so many people who have visited.' The decision to demolish the bridge came after two engineering firms concluded that it couldn't be restored, according to the town's website. Demolition is expected to start on Aug. 18. While the bridge will no longer remain, Reandeau said the landmark's volunteer group is in the planning process for how to move forward. The nonprofit is waiting for occupancy certification to reopen its relatively unscathed education center, where it can hold gardening and art classes — and hopefully install new gardens nearby, Reandeau said. 'We haven't gone away, we're still here, and we really look forward to the day we can welcome back visitors to the gardens,' she said. 'We fully intend to make another magical space. It's just not going to happen immediately.'
