Among those doing shovel duty at the wetlands restoration groundbreaking were, from left ,
Rep. Alice ( irttham Underhill, Lt. Gov, Beverly Perdue, Tryon Palace Commission Quantum
Harold Talton, Secretary Usbeth Evans
о/
the North Carolina Department of Cultural
Resources, Tryon Palace Commission member emeritus Dick Douglas )r. , Trwi Palace
Council of Friends President David L. Ward Jr. , and fmtject architect Keith Giamportone.
Ceremony Launches Waterfront Project
Members of l he Tryon Palace
Commission, state government
representatives tins! community leaders
gathered Oct. 24 at the former site of
New Bern’s Barbour Boat Works as
Tryon Palace 1 listoric Sites &.
Gardens broke ground for a major
redevelopment project on New Bern’s
Trent River waterfront.
The groundbreaking ceremony
marked the start of work on a wetlands
restoration project at the site, the first
phase of a multiyear effort that will
eventually turn the site into Tryon
Palace's new North Carolina 1 Iistory
Education ('enter. The wetlands proj¬
ect, which will restore a key segment of
New Bern's historic waterfront to its
natural state, is underwritten by a $1
million grant from North Carolina's
('lean Water Management Trust and a
$75,000 grant from the U.S. Environ¬
mental Protection Agency.
The aim of the wetlands restoration
is to create a living classroom for the
exploration of natural history anil
environmental issues for visitors to
Tryon Palace Historic Sites &
Cardens, while at the same time pro¬
viding a natural filter for storm water
2 QicC4ico Winter 2003
runoff from the Palace property and
part of the adjacent neighborhood.
Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue was principal
speaker at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Sec. Lisbeth Evans welcomed partici¬
pants on behall of the North Carolina
Department of Cultural Resources.
“This groundbreaking ceremony
marks a milestone event for the depart¬
ment our first wetlands restoration
project,” Evans told attendees.
“Through this project we are helping to
preserve the environment by restoring
functions that have been lost through
historic and present-day usage."
The start of work on the wetlands
restoration comes after more than five
years of planning, demolition, testing
and site preparation. Tryon Palace
Historic Sites &. Gardens acquired the
property in 1997 and immediately
began planning for the construction of
its North Carolina History Education
Center, a new visitor center and muse¬
um complex that will represent its
most significant expansion since the
Palace was reconstructed and opened
to visitors in 1959.
Work on the wetlands restoration is
expected to continue through 2003.
Ф
The Magazine oj the Tryon Palace
Council oj Friends
VOt UME 3 NUMBER 2 WINTER 2003
Publisher: Karen O’Connell
Editor: Carl Herko
Contributors: Fran Campbell, George H.
McLeod, Nelson McDaniel, Karen
O’Connell
Tryon Palace Council of Friends
President: David L. Ward Jr.
Vice President: Ella Ann Holding
Board of Directors:
Marty Andress
Kittye Bailey
Dr. Sidney Barnwell
Julia W. Beasley
Ellen Chance
D. Hayes Clement Jr.
Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, ex officio
Helen Daughtry
June Ficklen
John Hines
Ambassador Jeanette Hyde
Carroll H. Leggett
Nelson B. McDaniel
Karen O'Connell, ex officio
Anna Pleisier
J. Harold Talton, ex officio
Edwina Thompson
1>. Zebu Ion Weaver III
Kay P. Williams, ex officio
Joseph E. Zaytoun
The Palace is published four times a
year by the Tryon Palace Council of
Friends. We welcome your comments
and suggestions. Send correspon¬
dence to Carl Herko, Editor, The
Palace, PO Box 1007, New Bern, NC
28563. Telephone: (252) 514-4937.
Fax: (252) 514-4876. E-mail:
cherko@tryonpalace.org
On the Cover
Detail of silver tea caddy, part
of a set by Samuel Johnson,
London, c. 1752, on display
in the Tryon Palace parlor.
Story on Page 4.